THE  FRAUDS 

OF  TIIE 

New  York  City  Government 

EXPOSED. 

SheMjcs  of  tlje  Pcmbers  of  %  ^Ritig  anir  tljcir  Confederates : 

WITH 

A    LIST   OF  CHECKS, 

COPIED  FROM  THE  BOOKS  IN  THE 

OFFICE  OF  THE  COMPTROLLER, 

REPRESENTING 

MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS, 

^  AID  ON    J^RAUDU  LENT  pLAIMS. 


gen-  Uorfe : 

PUBLISHED    BY    THE  AUTHOR; 

No.  66  BROADWAY. 
1871. 

~~  j  j   ...  — — 


NEW  PAMPHLETS, 


By  the  Same  Author. 


Two  now  Pamphlets,  by  the  Author  of  the  "  Frauds  of  the 
New  York  City  Government  Exposed/'  are  now  in  course  of 
preparation  and  will  be  published  in  a  few  weeks.  One  will  be 
entitled  : 

"  Irishmen  at  Home  and  Abroad," 

and  will  contain  an  impartial  review  of  the  condition — social, 
moral,  and  intellectual — of  the  Irish,  in  Europe  and  America  ; 
with  a  critical  inquiry  into  the  agencies  that  are  employed  to 
bring  the  great  mass  of  Irishmen  in  America  under  the  control 
of  a  few  unprincipled  men,  who  trade  on  their  patriotism  and 
their  impulsive,  generous  nature,  and  rob  them  ot  their  money 
and  their  manhood. 

The  second  will  be  entitled  : 

"  THE  MEN  WHO  RULE  US," 

and  will  contain  a  series  of  Biographical  Sketches  of  the  prom- 
inent Politicians  of  the  City  and  State — including  Governor 
"Hoffman  and  the  warriors  of  his  StalF.  the  members  of  the  King, 
the  Bench,  the  Bar,  the  several  Commissions  of  the  City  Gov- 
ernment, the  Tammany  Republicans  who  hold  positions  under 
the  Ring,  and  a  number  of  sleek  and  successful  jobbers  not 
hitherto  known  to  fame. 


Spicy  Revelations  may  be  Looked  for. 


THE  FEAUDS 

OF  THE 

New  York  City  Government 

EXPOSED. 

t 

Sketches  of  fbe  Ittembcrs  of  tbe  |ling  anb  their  Confcbevatcs : 

WITH 

A    LIST   OF  OHEOkS, 

COPIED  FROM  THE  BOOKS  IN  THE 

OFFICE  OF  THE  COMPTROLLER, 

REPRESENTING 

MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS, 

-pAiD  Put  on   Fraudulent  Plaims. 


geu*  llorh : 

PUBLISHED    BY    THE  AUTHOR; 
No.  60  BROADWAY. 
1871. 


fio>L  6"7 


Entered- according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1371  by 
A  BR  AH  P.  GENUNG, 
In  the  Office  of  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Ever  thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book. 


WHITHER  ARE  WE  DRIFTING  ? 


Shall  honest  men  or  thieves  rule  America  ? 

This  is  the  question  that  is  now  presented  to  the  American 
people — this  is  the  alternative. 

The  question  of  secession  was  most  momentous  to  the  people 
of  the  South.  It  involved  all  the  horrors  of  a  terrible  war  ;  the 
severing  of  the  most  tender  ties,  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  most  val- 
ued  lives,  superadded  to  the  inevitable  destruction  of  property. 
But,  terrible  as  these  misfortunes  may  seem,  there  are  other  calam- 
ities that  may  befall  a  people  that  are  even  more  terrible  than  these. 
When  public  men  have  lost  every  public  and  private  virtue;  when 
they  have  ceased  to  regard  the  duties  and  obligations  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  governed  as  reciprocal;  when  they  deny  the  right  of 
the  people  to  hold  them  to  a  strict  accountability  for  their  official 
acts,  and  band  themselves  together  for  purposes  of  wholesale  rob- 
bery; when  they  ignore  and  defy  the  law-abiding  masses,  the  indus- 
trious, the  intelligent,  the  cultured,  and  the  wealthy — all  who  have 
the  peace,  honor,  and  prosperity  of  the  country  at  heart — and  pan- 
der to  the  ignorant  and  brutal,  subsidizing  the  most  depraved,  and 
invoking  the  worst  passions  of  the  lawless  and  vicious,  in  order 
to  perpetuate  their  own  power  ;  when  robbers  and  murderers  revel 
in  undisturbed  license,  and  the  ministers  of  justice  become  their 
allies  and  friends,  instead  of  the  avenging  Nemesis  of  an  outraged 
law:  :vhen  the  control  of  the  Public  Schools  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
most  rapacious  and  unscrupulous  demagogues,  and  the  moral  senti- 
ment of  the  rising  generation  is  rapidly  becoming  blunted  and  de- 
bauched,— then  has  a  calamity  mare  terrible  than  the  most 
dfstructive  Avar  befallen  the  people.  This  is  the  condition  ot 
tilings  that  iioav  obtains  in  New  York  :  this  is  the  condition  oi 


tilings  that  the  thieves  of  New  York  have  threatened  to  extend  to 
the  general  Government. 

It  is  well  known  that  William  M.  Tweed  is  the  leading  spirit 
of  the  infamous  cabal  that  now  controls  this  City.  On  the  4th  of 
July  last,  at  Tammany  Hall,  surrounded  by  his  co-conspirators  and 
a  host  of  ruffians  who  are  engaged  in  the  congenial  pastime  of 
robbing  the  people  of  this  City,  Tweed  made  a  speech,  from  which 
we  make  the  following  extract: 

In  these  great  and  perilous  times,  stand-points  must  be  taken.  The  Tam- 
many Society  propose  to  be  governed  by  those  rules  which  have  made  all  coun- 
tries powerful  which  have  followed  them.  We  propose  that  the  interests  of  one 
shall  he  the  interests  of  all.  We  propose  to  carry  on  a  strict  government.  We 
propose  to  recognize  the  rights  of  those  who  elect  persons  to  high  official  stations, 
and  to  call  them  to  personal  account  for  the  mauner  in  which  they  have  conducted 
themselves  and  performed  their  duties.  We  propose  to  wrest,  if  possible,  the 
Government  from  the  hands  of  those  who  now.  in  our  opinion,  are  betraying  it  ; 
from  those  who  are  trying  to  crush  out  all  principles  of  equality,  liberty,  and  tol- 
eration." [Applause.] 

The  import  of  this  language  cannot  he  mistaken  :  its  signifi- 
cance cannot  be  ignored.  It  merely  gives  a  more  tangible  form  to 
the  thoughts  that  are  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  the  men  who 
have  succeeded,  through  the  most  disgraceful  agencies,  in  foisting 
themselves  into  power  in  this  City,  and  who  now  hope,  through  the 
same  agencies — bribery,  fraud,  and  turbulence — to  obtain  control  of 
the  general  Government  and  overwhelm  the  country  in  disgrace 
and  ruin.  "We  propose,"  says  this  exponent  of  the  policy  of 
the  Ring,  "to  wrest,  if  possible,  the  Government  from  the  hands 
of  those  who  now.  in  our  opinion,  are  betraying  it."  This,  then,  is 
the  purpose  of  the  men  who  now  rule  this  City:  To  wrest  the 
Government  from  the  hands  of  those  whose  best  efforts  have 
been  exerted  to  restore  tranquility  to  the  country,  and  to  promote 
the  hest  interests  of  its  people,  and  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  an 
organized  band  of  thieves  who  will  apply  the  same  principles  to 
the  government  of  the  entire  country  that  they  are  now  applying 
to  the  government  of  this  City.  Shall  these  men  succeed  ?  Shall 
honest  men  or  thieves  rule  America  ?     These  are  the  questions 

that  are  now  presented  to  the  people,  and  the  answer  must  come 
distinct  and  clear — it  must  ring  out  in  thunder- tones  from  Maine 
to  California)  it  must  increase  in  volume  and  emphasis  in  this 
City,  until  it  has  shaken  those  palatial  mansions  on  Murray  Hill  to 


their  foundation,  and  reverberated  through  the  innermost  recesses 
of  those  dark  abodes  of  vice  and  crime — the  rum  shops  of  the 
Five  Points  ;  it  must  swesp,  like  a  destroying  angel,  over  those 
waited  sepulchres  that  have  been  erected  with  moneys  stolen  from 
the  people  by  the  shameless  ruffians  who  now  rule  us,  and  into 
the  less  pretentious  dwellings  of  the  miserable  scoundrels  who 
have  been  their  too  willing  tools — blotting  out  for  all  time  the  ac- 
cursed corruption  that  now  festers  there. 

Who  and  what  are  the  men  who  now  rule  this  City  ?  Do  they 
represent  the  intelligence,  the  industry,  or  the  integrity  of  out- 
people  ?  Do  they  derive  their  right  to  govern  this  City  from  the 
consent  of  the  people  ?  and  if  not,  what  becomes  of  the  declaration 
for  which  the  founders  of  the  Government  risked  life,  liberty,  and 
fortune  ?  These  are  the  questions  which  honest  men  of  all 
parties  and  of  all  classes  must  now  ask,  but  which  they  may  ask 
in  vain,  so  far  as  any  satisfactory  answer  is  concerned.  No  one 
will  pretend  that  Connolly,  Hall,  Tweed,  and  Sweeny  represent 
either  the  honesty,  the  industry,  or  the  integrity  of  the  great  mass 
of  our  bankers,  merchants,  mechanics,  or  professional  men  ;  and  no 
one  will  pretend  that  they  hold  their  present  positions  with  the 
consent  or  approval  of  the  classes  just  referred  to. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  antecedents  of  the  four  men  who  are 
now  at  the  head  of  our  municipal  government,  which  entitles  them 
to  either  the  respect  or  confidence  of  the  public. 

A.  Oakey  Hall. 

Hall's  career  as  a  public  man  has  been  conspicuous  only  for 
tergiversation,  trickery,  and  fraud;  while  his  private  life  has  been 
stained  by  the  grossest  excesses,  the  most  heartless  betrayal  of  con- 
fidence,* and  an  utter  disregard  for  the  principles  that  are  held 
sacred  by  right-minded  men  everywhere.  As  a  politician,  he  has 
"  swung  round  the  circle,"  having  been  by  turns  a  Whig,  a  Know- 
Nothing,  a  Kepublican,  and  a  Democrat — at  one  time,  the  most  re- 
lentless enemy  of  our  adopted  citizens,  and  anon  filling  the  role  of  a 
fawning  sycophant,  and  endeavoring  by  the  most  transparent  tricks 

*  There  are  certain  well-authenticated  facts  within  the  knowledge  of  the 
writer,  which  neither  the  limits  of  this  pamphlet  nor  the  nature  of  the  subject 
will  admit  of  being  introduced  here,  but  they  conclusively  prove  that  Hall  is  one 
of  the  most  unprincipled  and  heartless  villains  in  the  community. 


G 


to  win  the  support  of  the  very  men  who,  only  a  short  time  before, 
he  had  affected  to  despise;  as  a  journalist,  he  is  an  egregious  fail- 
ure; as  a  lawyer,  he  never  reached  mediocrity;  and  as  a  man.  he 
is  simply  beneath  contempt.  But  as  a  member  of  an  organized 
band  of  thieves,  and  as  the  confederate,  friend,  and  champion  of  a 
gang  of  desperate  criminals,  he  has  been  an  immense  success. 

Hall  held  the  position  of  District  Attorney  sufficiently  long  to 
become  familiar  with  the  thieves,  murderers,  gamblers,  and  prosti- 
tutes that  infest  the  City,  and  to  learn  who  were  their  friends  and 
protectors  when  they  got  into  trouble.  He  found  the  latter  among 
the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Legislature  and  the  City  Gov- 
ernment ;  while  many  of  the  criminals  themselves,  against  whom 
indictments  had  been  found,  were  not  without  political  aspirations, 
and  hoped,  without  much  delay,  to  take  their  place  beside  their 
patrons  and  protectors.  Nor  were  they  disappointed.  Some  of  the 
men  who  have  been  elected  to  positions  of  honor  and  emolument — 
many  of  them  hold  high  official  positions  to-day — have  indictments 
hanging  over  their  heads,  which  have  been  pigeon-holed  and  care- 
fully preserved  by  Hall,  the  better  to  enalile  him  to  carry  out  his 
schemes  of  personal  aggrandizement. 

Having  obtained  all  the  necessary  information  in  reference  to 
t  he  dangerous  classes,  he  formed  an  alliance  with  them,  and,  by  hold- 
ing the  indictments  against  them  in  terror  em  over  their  heads,  and 
by  a  tree  use  of  the  money  stolen  from  the  people,  he  has  Succeeded 
in  grasping  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  City,  and  in  establishing  a 
reigD  of  terror  and  a  despotism  over  its  people  that  is  more  oppressive 
and  degrading  than  anything  that  has  ever  existed  under  the  most 
absolute  monarchy  of  the  Old  World.  There  is  no  protection  for 
life  or  property  ;  the  laws  are  openly  violated  with  the  utmost  im- 
punity; and  a  band  of  the  most  desperate  ruffians  in  the  City  are  the 
hired  tools  of  our  City  officials,  and  are  paid  out  of  the  City  Treas- 
ury. Men  whose  want-  of  character  and  ability  are  notorious  are 
elected  to  (ill  high  judicial  positions,  and  the  decisions  of  these 
men,  in  cases  when?  members  of  the  King  or  their  protryrs  were 
interested,  have  been  so  palpably  in  violation  of  every  principle  of 
law  and  justice  thai  they  have  made  the  bench  of  New  York  a 
by-word  and  a  reproach  throughout  the  whole  country.  When- 
i  ver  practicable,  the  Police  Justices  have  been  selected  on  the  same 
principle.  Men  without  character,  ability,  or  pocial  position — 
many  of  tin  in  tic  fiiei  ds  and  abettors  of  gamblers  and  thieves,  if 


7 


not  actually  in  that  category  themselves — >are  selected,  not  to  ad- 
minister justice  to  the  lawless  and  turbulent,  but  to  protect  the 
ruffians  who  are  in  the  pay  of  the  Ring,  and  to  intimidate,  as  far 
as  they  have  the  power,  all  who  oppose  that  infamous  oligarchy. 
The  notorious  Jack  Rogers  was  arrested  for  beings  drunk  and  en- 
gaged in  a  fight  on  the  night  preceding  the  commission  of  the 
murder  for  which  he  has  since  expiated  his  crimes  on  the  scaffold, 
and,  on  being  brought  before  a  Police  Justice  at  the  Tombs,  next 
morning,  he  was  immediately  turned  loose  on  the  public,  and  wound 
up  on  the  same  evening  by  committing  one  of  the  most  cold-blooded 
and  unprovoked  murders  on  record.  Nor  is  this  an  exceptional 
case.  A  premium  is  held  out  to  desperate  criminals  ;  and  hundreds 
of  the  most  notorious  desperadoes  in  the  community — men  who 
have  been  charged  with  every  species  of  crime— are  supported  out 
of  the  City  Treasury,  and  fostered  and  protected  by  the  City  author- 
ities. These  are  the  men  who  have  placed  Hall,  Connolly,  Tweed, 
and  Sweeny  in  their  present  positions;  and  it  is  to  the  support  of 
these  men  that  they  look  to  enable  them  to  brave  out  the  storm 
of  indignation  which  recent  revelations  have  raised  against  them. 

Hall  has  been  charged  by  responsible  parties  with  being  a  thief, 
and  the  charge  has  been  reiterated  until  it  has  become  familiar  to 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land.  Specific  charges  are  brought  against  him,  backed  up' by 
the  most  conclusive  and  incontrovertible  evidence,  but  instead  of 
promptly  meeting  and  disproving  these  charges,  he  affects  an  air  of 
virtuous  indignation,  like  the  harlot  who  was  accused  of  a  want  of 
chastity,  and  finding  that  dodge  unavailing,  he  secured  the  services 
of  the  most  disreputable  Bohemians  in  the  City,  and  endeavored,  by 
the  publication  of  a  series  of  lying  attacks  upon  a  Clerk  who  had 
recently  resigned  his  position  in  the  Comptroller's  office,  and  who 
was  supposed  to  have  some  connection  with  the, revelations  in  the 
Times,  to  divert  public  attention  from  the  question  that  is  upper- 
most in  the  mind  of  every  person  in  the  community.  Conspicuous 
amongst  the  unscrupulous  liars  who  lent  themselves  to  this  dirty 
work  was  a  miserable  scoundrel,  named  Joseph  Howard,  whose  only 
noteworthy  achievement  in  connection  with  the  press  consisted  in 
forging  a  proclamation,  purporting  to  have  been  issued  by  the  late 
President  Lincoln,  for  which  he  was  arrested  and  incarcerated  in 
Fort  Lafayette.  This  jail-bird  conducts  a  dirty  little  sheet,  called 
the  Star,  which  gained  an  unenviable  notoriety  during  the  excite- 


8 


meni  incident  to  the  July  riots  by  applauding  and  defending  the 
lawless  rabble  who  had  attempted  to  plunge  the  City  into  scenes  of 
blood  and  carnage,  and  to  enact  over  again  the  terrible  tragedies 
of  1863;  while  it  indulged  in  the  most  bitter  and  unwarrantable 
denunciations  of  our  National  Guardsmen,  who  bravely  discharged 
their  duty,  and  freely  risked  their  own  lives,  while  protecting  the 
lives  and  property  of  their  fellow-citizens.  Having  exhausted  his 
Billingsgate  on  our  citizen  soldiers  and  on  others  who  did  not 
sympathize  with  his  friends  of  the  mob,  Howard  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  Times  (doubtless  in  the  hope  of  receiving  a  notice  from 
that  paper),  and  to  the  man  who  was  supposed  to  have  furnished 
■the  figures  that  were  copied  from  the  Comptroller's  books  ;  and, 
while  he  attempted  to  impugn  the  motives  of  the  former,  and  to 
throw  discredit  on  the  latter,  he  never  pretended  to  meet  any 
charge  that  had  been  made,  nor  to  deny  any  specific  fact  stated. 
In  disseminating  the  most  transparent  falsehoods,  and  in  the  display 
of  the  most  bitter  (but  impotent)  malignity,  Howard  found 
worthy  allies  amongst  kindred  spirits,  who,  like  himself,  are  the 
paid  tools  of  the  King.  Foremost  amongst  these  was  a  disreputable 
ruffian,  named  John  Warren,  who  keeps  a  low  rum  shop  on 
Chambers  street.  The  records  of  the  War  Department  show  that 
this  fellow  received  a  commission  as  captain  in  the  63d  New  York 
Volunteers  on  December  26th,  1861,  and  that  he  was  cashiered 
(literally  drummed  out  of  the  service)  February  28th.  1862,  just  two 
months  from  the  date  of  his  commission  ;  and  as  this  sentence  is 
equivalent  to  a  term  in  the  State  Prison,  and  disqualifies  him  from 
ever  holding  any  position  of  trustor  emolument  under  the  (Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  it  is  meet  that  he  should  take 
his  position  under  the  banner  of  Tammany,  and  add  one  more  to 
the  army  of  outlaws  and  thieves  who  there  find  congenial  compan- 
ions and  an  agreeable  occupation. 

Howard  found  another  zealous  ally  in  the  person  of  a  blatant 

demagogue,  named  Stephen  J.  Meany,  who  divides  his  time  between 
inciting  the  most  ignorant  and  depraved  of  his  countrymen  to  acts 
of  violence,  writing  silly  and  contemptible  puffs  of  the  Tammany 

thieve*  for  the  Sl<n\  and  in  conducting  a  mendacious  sheet,  called  the 
Irish  Democrat^  thai  is  not  seen  by  oik;  person  out  of  every  twenty 
thousand  in  the  community,  and  that  owes  its  precarious  existence 
to  the  patronage  of  the  corrupt  King.  This  Meany  is  a  worthy 
representative  of  the  men  with  whom  lie  is  associated,  and  whom 


9 


lie  has  undertaken  to  defend.  He  has  been  denounced  by  the 
entire  respectable  press  of  New  York  as  a  noisy,  unprincipled  dem- 
agogue; while  the  Herald,  Sun,  Telegram,  and  Irish  American 
have  branded  him  as  a  convicted  felon,  and  have  published  minute 
details  connected  with  his  arrest,  trial,  and  conviction  for  feloni- 
ously appropriating  the  property  of  others.  This  man  holds  a 
sinecure  under  the  Ring,  and  in  return  for  the  money  that  he  re- 
ceives, and  which  he  is  incapable  of  earning  in  any  legitimate  way, 
lie  grovels  in  the  dirt  at  the  feet  of  his  employers,  and  shouts  him- 
self hoarse  proclaiming  their  virtues.  In  the  abjectness  of  his  sub- 
serviency and  the  fulsomeness  of  his  flattery  to  the  members  of  the 
Ring,  Meany  is  not  a  whit  ahead  of  his  intimate  friend  and  com- 
panion, D.  P.  Conyngham,  a  flunkey  in  the  employment  of  William 
M.  Tweed,  Jr.,  and  the  nominal  editor  of  the  Sunday  Democrat. 

These  were  the  men  that  Hall  rallied  for  his  defense.  They 
singled  out  the  Clerk,  to  whom  we  have  already  referred,  for  their 
attacks,  and  concocted  the  most  absurd  statements  about  him  and 
the  circumstances  connected  with  his  leaving  the  Comptroller's 
office.  But  they  were  so  eager  to  do  the  bidding  of  their  masters, 
and  there  was  so  little  method  in  their  onslaught,  that  they  were 
constantly  contradicting  each  other  in  the  most  ridiculous  manner, 
while  they  merely  excited  the  contempt  of  all  who  read  their  effu- 
sions. Hall  came  out  in  his  own  paper,  the  Leader,  and  stated 
that  the  Clerk  from  whom  the  figures  had  been  obtained  was  dis- 
charged  from  the  Comptroller's  office  for  dishonesty,  taking  the 
precaution,  however,  not  to  mention  any  name.  Finally  he  induced 
the  Globe  to  publish  an  editorial  in  which  the  Clerk  in  question 
was  mentioned  by  name,  and  characterized  as  a  "dirty  traitor  and 
a  fraud."  As  this  was  the  first  paper  with  any  pretentions  to 
respectability  that  had  published  any  of  Hall's  mendacious  state- 
ments, the  following  reply  was  immediately  sent  to  the  editor,  and 
was  published  in  full  in  the  Globe  of  August  3. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Globe  : 

"  Sir — The  Globe,  of  Saturday,  contains  an  editorial  in  which 
you  say:  'Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  exposures  of  the 
Times,  the  man  O'Rourke,  who  furnished  them,  is  a  dirty  traitor 
and  a  fraud/ 

"  This  is  the  style  of  argument  that  is  now  being  resorted  to  by 
Messrs.  Hall  and  Connolly,  and  the  parasites  that  fatten  on  their 


10 


corruption;  but  it  would  be  an  insult  to  the  understanding  of  the 
community  to  suppose  that  bo  flimsy  a  device  could  divert  their 
attention  from  the  real  question  that  is  now  agitating  the  public 
mind.  The  assumption  that  I  had  any  connection  with  the  expo- 
sures of  the  Times  is  entirely  gratuitous;  but  even  if  that  fact  had 
been  fully  established,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  upon  what  princi- 
ple you  could  justify  the  language  of  the  article  from  which  I  have 
quoted.  If,  instead  of  being  engaged  by  the  Comptroller,  I  had 
been  offered  a  position  in  a  banking-house,  and  had  ascertained 
after  entering  on  my  duties  that  instead  of  doing  a  legitimate  busi- 
ness, my  employers  were  engaged  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
counterfeit  money,  and  if  instead  of  becoming  a  party  to  their  vil- 
lanies,  I  had  thrown  up  my  position  and  denounced  them  as  forgers 
and  thieves,  would  I,  in  the  estimation  of  the  editor  of  the  Globe, 
be  a  -'dirty  traitor  and  a  fraud  ?' 

"A  responsible  journal  has  publicly  denounced  A.  Oakey  Hall 
and  Richard  B.  Connolly  as  c  two  thieves,'  and  has  accused  them 
of  paying  out  millions  of  dollars  on  fraudulent  claims,  and  of  re- 
ceiving the  largest  proportion  of  the  amounts  thus  taken  from  the 
Treasury.  It  has  shown  that  their  peculations  in  connection  with 
the  repairs  and  furniture  in  County  olfices  and  armories  have 
amounted  to  more  than  six  millions  of  dollars  during  the  nine 
months  ending  March  31st,  1871.  It  has  reiterated  its  statements 
over  and  over  again,  and  has  brought  specific  charges  against  them 
which  still  remain  uncontradicted.  Instead  of  applying  themselves 
to  the  task  of  disproving  the  statements  of  the  Times,  they  resort 
to  the  pitiful  subterfuge  of  throwing  discredit  upon  these  state- 
ments,  by  publishing,  and  causing  to  be  published, mendacious  and 
irrelevant  newspaper  bulletins  about  parties  who  are  supposed  to 

have  had  sonic  connection  with  the  ventilation  of  their  schemes  of 
plunder.      Mayor   Hall    has   put  'forth   several   statements  that 

abound  in  flippant  rhetoric  and  'glittering  generalities;'  but  they 
have  been  so  obviously  false  and  futile  that  they  cannot  deceive 

any  one,  anil  could  only  have  been  resorted  to  in  the  desperation 

of  despair.    If  he  and  Connolly  are  the  honest  officials  that  they 

WOUld  have  the  public  believe,  why  do  they  not  express  their  wil- 

lingnesa  to  submit  the  books  of  the  Comptroller's  office  to  a  com- 
mittee of  gentlemen  representing  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  or  the 
Merchants1  Exchange  ?  Without  any  reference  to  what  has  been 
st;iir<l  in  the  Times,  I  say  here,  and  on  my  own  responsibility,  that 


ti 


there  is  evidence  enough  contained  in  those  books  to  consign  Hall 
and  Connolly  to  eternal  infamy,  if  not  to  the  inside  of  the  State 
Prison.  Impudent  bravado  and  silly  chatter  cannot  deceive  the 
public.  The  source  from  which  the  Times  obtained  its  information 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  truth  or  falsity  of  its  charges.  It  is 
Hall  and  Connolly,  and  not  M.  J.  O'Rourke,  who  are  arraigned 
before  the  bar  of  public  justice,  and  the  '  you're  another'  style  of 
argument  which  they  and  their  advocates  seek  to  interpose  will  not 
avail  them.  If  Hall  and  Connolly  were  justified  in  paying  out 
several  millions  of  dollars  to  four  men  for  repairs  and  furniture  in 
County  offices  and  armories,  they  have  nothing  to  fear  from  a 
searching  investigation  of  their  acts.  If,  as  has  been  charged,  they 
have  paid  out  vast  sums  of  money  on  fraudulent  claims,  or  have 
misapplied  any  part  of  the  moneys  under  their  control  as  public 
officers,  then  the  sooner  the  public  are  made  aware  of  the  fact  the 
better;  and  if  I  should  be  even  remotely  instrumental  in  bringing 
them  to  justice,  I  should  consider  that  I  had  simply  discharged  a 
duty  that  I  owe  alike  to  myself  and  to  the  public.  It  will  not  do 
for  Messrs.  Hall  and  Connolly  to  introduce  extraneous  subjects, 
nor  to  seek  to  obscure  the  only  vital  question  involved  in  the  con- 
troversy by  slang-whanging  and  innuendo. 

"  What  I  have  done  or  left  undone  are  not  the  questions  upon 
which  the  public  desire  information,  and  for  that  reason  it  is  of 
little  consequence  to  the  public  whether  I  resigned  or  was  removed 
from  my  position.  As  the  subject  has  been  referred  to  in  several 
papers,  however,  and  as  several  false  statements  have  been  made, 
c  on  the  highest  authority/  I  may  be  pardoned  for  reverting  to  it 
here.  My  connection  with  the  Comptroller's  office  can  be  described 
in  a  few  words  :  Early  in  April,  1870,  I  visited  Albany,  in  the 
hope  of  securing  a  settlement  of  a  claim  of  mine  against  the  State, 
which  has  remained  unsettled  for  more  than  four  years.  While 
there  I  met  Mr.  Richard  B.  Connolly,  who,  on  learning  that  I  was 
connected  with  the  press,  and  also  engaged  in  collecting  materials 
for  a  work  entitled  i  The  Representative  Men  of  the  Empire  State/ 
offered  me  a  position  in  his  department.  On  the  death  of  Mr. 
Watson,  late  County  Auditor.  Mr.  S.  C.  Lynes,  Jr.,  County  Book- 
keeper, was  directed  to  discharge  the  duties  of  Auditor,  and  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  County  Book-keeper's  duties  devolved  upon 
me,  and  it  was  while  discharging  these  duties  that  my  eyes  were 
first  opened  to  the  real  nature  of  the  business  that  was  being  daily 


L2 


transacted  in  the  office.  Early  in  May  I  discovered  that  the  bill 
of  an  acquaintance  of  mine  which  had  been  standing  for  two  years, 
had  been  purposely  put  out  of  the  way  or  destroyed.  I  knew  it 
was  their  intention  to  pay  out  a  large  amount  on  fictitious  claims 
some  time  during  that  month,  and  I  waited  upon  the  Comptroller 
personally  and  remonstrated  with  him.  On  May  19th  (the  same 
day  of  my  interview  with  the  Comptroller)  I  wrote  my  resignation, 
to  take  effect  May  31st,  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  the  County 
Auditor,  and  peremptorily  refused  to  withdraw  it,  although  urged 
to  do  so  by  the  County  Auditor  and  another  confidential  friend  of 
the  Comptroller's.  On  reading  some  allusions  to  the  circumstances 
connected  with  my  leaving  the  office,  I  addressed  a  note  to  the 
County  Auditor,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

Mr.  Stephen  C.  Lynes,  Jr.,  County  Audita)-,  Comptroller 's  Office: 

Sir — On  the  19th  of  May  last  I  voluntarily  placed  my  resignation,  as  a  Clerk 
in  the  Bureau  of  which  you  are  the  head,  in  your  hands,  and  steadily  refused  to 
reconsider  ray  action,  although  you  were  good  enough  to  point  out  the  advantages 
that  would  accrue  to  me  if  1  remained  in  the  position,  and,  to  say  that  my  decision 
was  hasty  and  inconsiderate.  As  the  controversy  that  is  now  going  on  in  the 
public  press,  relative  to  the  affairs  of  the  Comptroller's  office,  is  calculated  to  en- 
gender erroneous  impressions  about  myself,  and  as  it  has  been  charged  in  the 
New  York  Leader  that  the  figures  which  have  recently  been  published  by  the 
Times  were  obtained  from  a  Clerk  who  had  been  discharged  from  the  Comp- 
troller's office  for  dishonesty,  I  shall  feel  obliged  to  you  if  you  will  state  whether 
the  circumstances  connected  with  the  tender  of  my  resignation,  as  described 
above,  agree  with  your  recollection  of  what  occurred  at  the  time;  and,  also,  if  at 
any  time  during  my  stay  in  the  department  there  has  ever  been  a  charge  of  any 
kind  brought  against  me.    An  immediate  reply  will  oblige. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

M.  .1.  O'ROUBKE. 

"  To-day  I  called  at  the  law  office  of  Col.  Benjamin  A.  Willis, 
51  Chambers  street,  and  he  soul  one  of  his  assistants  to  the  Comp- 
troller's office  with  my  note,  but  Mr.  Lynes  declined  to  make  any 
statement  in  writing.  Subsequently,  and,  while  I  was  writing  a 
second  note,  makings  peremptory  demand  on  him  for  a  reply,  he 
came  into  Col.  Willis'  office,  and  then  and  there,  in  the  presence 
ef  Col.  Willis,  Col.  M.  J.  Farrell,  and  Mr.  P.  T.  Southern,  he 
answered  each  of  the  questions  propounded  in  my  note,  saying  that 

he  had   received   my  resignation   in   the   manner  described,  had 

handed  it  to  the  Comptroller,  and  that  there  had  never  been  any 

charge  brought  against  me.  He  said,  further,  that  he  would  be 
ready  to  repeat  his  statement  verbally  whenever  called  upon,  but 


13 


that  he  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  say  any  tiling  in  writing.  And 
this  is  the  man  who  is  required,  in  his  official  capacity,  to  pass 
upon  claims  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars  annually,  and  who  is 
such  a  craven-hearted  lick-spittle  that  he  dare  not  open  his  mouth 
to  perform  a  simple  act  of  justice,  lest  it  might  displease  his  mas- 
ter. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  MATTHEW  J.  O'ROURKE. 
"  New  York,  August  1st,  1871?" 
This  letter  added  fresh  interest  to  the  controversy.  The  more 
respectable  journals  that  had  copied  the  article  from  the  Leader 
saw  that  they  had  inadvertently  done  an  injustice  to  Mr.  O'Rourke, 
and,  with  a  promptness  which  did  them  great  credit,  they  volunta- 
rily published  his  communication  to  the  Globe,  or  such  portion  of  it 
as  was  deemed  necessary  to  vindicate  him  from  the  lying  attacks  of 
Hall  and  his  satellites.  In  his  card  "  to  the  people,"  Hall  was  not 
more  successful.  Here  he  virtually  admitted  the  correctness  of  the 
figures  published  by  the  Times,  but  says: 

"  The  claims  alluded  to  by  the  Times  are  large,  and  they  may  have  been 
exorbitant,  but  no  responsibility  really  rests  with  either  the  Comptroller  or 
myself.  They  were  all  audited  by  the  late  (and  what  is  known  as  the  old)  Board 
of  Supervisors,  abolished  when  the  new  City  Government  was  inaugurated,  and 
most  of  the  auditing  occurred  nearly  two  years  ago.  Many  of  the  claims  were  for 
work  and  materials  in  1868." 

To  this  statement  the  Times  replied  by  publishing  a  list  of 
checks  amounting  to  $6,237,518.63  that  had  been  paid  out  for  re- 
pairs and  furniture  in  armories  and  County  offices  alone,  during  the 
first  nine  months  that  the  new  City  Government  had  been  in  oper- 
ation. Foiled  in  this  attempt  to  deceive  the  public,  Hall  made  a 
supplemental  statement,  in  which  he  promised  to  publish  a  full  re- 
port of  the  moneys  paid  out  by  the  Comptroller  during  the  years 
1869-'70-'  71,  but  this  statement,  like  every  other  statement  that 
he  has  made  in  connection  with  these  frauds,  was  a  deliberate  false- 
hood, and  was  resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  time,  as  was 
his  subsequent  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. 

When  it  became  evident  that  Hall  did  not  intend  to  publish  a 
statement  of  the  Comptroller's  accounts,  the  President  of  the  Citi- 
zens' Association  of  the  Twelfth  and  Nineteenth  Wards  called  a 
meeting  of  the  citizens  of  these  Wards  to  be  held  August  7th.  On 


14 


the  evening  of  the  meeting  a  gang  of  roughs,  in  the  pay  of  the  Ring, 
attempted  to  interrupt  the  speakers,  and  to  break  up  the  meeting. 
They  were  not  successful,  however,  and  a  series  of  resolutions  were 
passed,  and  on  the  following  day  were  transmitted  to  Hall,  accom- 
panied by  a  communication  signed  by  a  number  of  prominent  citi- 
zens representing  millions  of  dollars  of  taxable  property  in  the  City. 
The  letter  and  resolutions  were  as  follows: 

<:  New  York,  Tuesday,  Aug.  8th,  1871. 
"  His  Honor  A.  Oakey  Hall,  Mayor  of  New  York  City: 

"Sir — Inclosed  you  will  please  receive  a  copy  of  the  resolutions 
adopted  at  a  meeting  .of  the  Twelfth  and  Nineteen tli  Awards  Citi- 
zens' Association  on  the  evening  of  the  7th  inst. 

"  The  great  importance  to  every  honest,  upright  citizen  of  the 
matters  referred  to  in  these  resolutions,  demands,  at  your  hands,  a 
prompt  and  explicit  response.  These  are  not  matters  either  to 
be  trifled  with  or  evaded  by  you.  The  public  care  not  for  the 
reports  or  certificates  of  any  committee  you  may  appoint,  or  whose 
appointment  you  may  procure.  What  they  want,  what  they  de- 
mand, what  they  must  have,  is  a  faithful  copy  of  the  pay-rolls  of  the 
City  and  County,  showing  the  salaries  paid  since  December  31st, 
18G8,  specifying  the  correct  name  of  the  person  to  whom  paid,  his 
or  her  residence,  and  nature  of  services  rendered  for  which  the  pay- 
ments were  made  ;  also  every  bill  rendered  against  the  City  and 
County,  showing  the  work  alleged  to  have  been  done,  and  furnish- 
ings supplied — in  detail — with  the  proceedings  of  all  meetings  of 
the  Board  of  Supervisors,  or  otherwise,  from  which  the  particulars 
may  be  obtained  as  to  when  and  by  whom  these  bills  were  passed 
upon  and  ordered  for  payment,  together  with  a  correct  transcript  of 
the  Comptroller's  books  as  to  all  payments  and  of  the  warrants  issued 
from  the  period  specified.  Jt  is  only  necessary  to  add  that  every 
citizen  is  deeply  interested  in  the  good  name  of  our  Chief  Magis- 
trate, and  a  lull  opportunity  will  cheerfully  be  granted  to  you 
to  justify  yourself  as  to  the  particular  matter  charged  against  yon. 

if  il  is  in  your  power  to  do  so  ;  but  failing  in  accomplishing  this  by 
the  publication  of  the  Oity  and  County  accounts  as  requested,  you 
maj  rely  upon  it  thai  every  tax-payer,  for  hi>  own  Bake,  and  for  the 
sake  and  honor  of  this  City,  and  of  our  Democratic  institutions, 
will  unhesitatingly  demand  that  you  at  once  withdraw  from  th" 


lb 


honorable  position  you  will — in  that  event — have  so  dishonorably 
tilled. 

"  We  shall  anxiously  wait  your  further  action  in  the  matter. 

"Respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

"JOHN  FOLEY, 
"  President  Twelfth  and  Nineteenth  Wards  Citizens'  Association/' 

Henry  Clews,  banker  ;  F.  D.  Meigs,  banker  ;  G.  G.  Williams, 
Cashier  Chemical  Bank  ;  James  Buell,  President  Importers'  and 
Traders'  National  Bank  ;  Wm.  Hegeman,  Hegeman  &  Co. ;  R.  H. 
Lowry,  President  Bank  of  the  Republic  ;  J.  L.  Worth,  Cashier 
Park  National  Bank  ;  Nathaniel  Hayden,  President  Chatham  Na- 
tional Bank  ;  Robert  Lenox  Kennedy,  President  National  Bank 
of  Commerce  ;  Emil  Sauer,  President  German- American  Bank  ; 
Francis  Tomes,  merchant  ;  Charles  Crary,  President  East-Side 
Association  ;  H.  W.  Ford,  Cashier  National  Bank  of  the  Re- 
public ;  John  J.  Cisco  &  Son,  bankers;  Isaac  H.  Walker,  Vice- 
President  Sun  Mutual  Insurance  Company ;  Benj.  Cartwright, 
Cashier  City  National  Bank  ;  Thos.  E.  Garson,  merchant;  John 
Straiton,  merchant  ;  Geo.  Storm,  merchant  ;  Cyrus  H.  Loutrel, 
merchant ;  Chas.  J.  Harris,  merchant  ;  Marshall  Long,  merchant; 
Rnssel  C.  Root,  merchant  ;  E.  Wilson,  Cashier  American  Ex- 
change National  Bank;  E.  N.  Taylor,  Jr.,  merchant;  Thomas 
McLelland,  President  ;  C.  F.  Timpson,  Cashier  Continental 
National  Bank  ;  Wm.  H.  Cox,  Cashier  Mechanics'  National  Bank  ; 
Wm.  C.  Barrett,  Counselor-at-Law  ;  Henry  Nicoil,  Counselor- 
at-Law  ;  Alfred  W.  Craven,  Civil  Engineer  ;  Thos.  S.  Cunningham, 
Secretary. 


Whereas,  The  continued  existence  of  republican  government  can  only  be  se- 
cured by  a  loyal  obedience  to,  and  faithful  performance  of  the  laws  ;  and, 

WnEEEAS,  It  is  the  imperative  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to  use  their  best  efforts 
to  secnre  obedience  to,  and  enforcement  of  the  laws  ;  and, 

Whereas,  His  Honor,  A.Oakey  Hall,  Mayor  of  this  City,  is  vested  by  law  with 
the  sole  power  of  appointing  all  executive  officers  of  the  City  and  County,  and  it 
is  a  duty  he  owes  to  every  citizen  that  the  trust  reposed  in  him  be  exercised  so  as 
to  secure  an  honest  adminstration  ;  and, 

Wiiereas,  It  has  been  asserted  by  the  New  York  Daily  Times,  and  not  yet 
contradicted,  that  gross  frauds  have  been  committed  through  the  connivance  of 
his  Honor  the  Mayor,  Comptroller,  and  other  City  officials,  whereby  many  millions 
of  dollars  have  been  feloniously  abstracted  from  the  City  Treasury  ;  and, 

Whereas,  A  corrupt  administration  of  the  City  Covernment  tolerated  by  the 
citizens  is  injurious  to  the  best  interests  of  the  community,  politically,  socially, 
morally,  and  religiously  ;  therefore. 


16 


Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  serious  charges  of  fraud  as  clearly  defined,  his 
Honor  the  Mayor,  A.  Oakey  Hall,  has  no  other  alternative  but  either  at  once  fairly 
and  fully  to  meet  and,  if  in  his  power,  to  refute  the  charges,  by  the  publication  in 
detail,  of  all  the  City  and  County  accounts  since  January  1st,  1869,  or  forthwith 
to  resign  his  office. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  event  of  his  Honor,  the  Mayor,  or  Comptroller,  delaying 
fairly  to  meet  or  being  unable  to  refute  the  crimes  of  which  they  are  accused,  it 
is  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  that  the  charges  against  them  can  only  be  properly 
investigated  by  judicial  proceedings,  by  means  of  which  all  funds  stolen  from  the 
(  it y  may  be  recovered  and  restored,  and  the  officials — who  may  be  proven  unfaith- 
ful— be  punished  as  the  law  directs. 

Resolved,  That  as  long  as  the  present  unfortunate  condition  of  the  City  funds 
and  accounts  is  continued,  we  earnestly  advise  all  tax-payers  to  refrain  from  pay- 
ing either  taxes  or  assessments,  retaining  the  same  until  they  are  assured  of  their 
honest  application  ;  and  further,  we  respectfully  caution  all  parties  not  to  purchase 
or  receive  any  bond  or  other  evidence  of  debt  binding  our  property  issued  after 
this  date,  August  7th,  1871,  with  the  signature  of  his  Honor,  A.  Oakey  Hall, 
Mayor;  for  we  consider,  and  shall  contend,  that  the  same  are  null  and  void,  as 
fraud  vitiates  all  contracts. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed,  who  shall  be  intrusted,  in  the  name 
and  on  behalf  of  the  tax-payers  represented  by  this  Association,  and  other  citizens 
who  unite  with  them,  to  take  all  lawful  means  to  liave  the  foregoing  resolutions 
carried  at  once  into  effect,  and  are  also  authorized,  as  long  as  the  administration 
of  the  City  Government  remains  in  the  hands  of  persons  suspected  and  accused  of 
dishonest  acts,  to  watch  over  all  the  proceedings  of  such  officials,  and  to  resort  to 
all  lawful  means  to  force  a  faithful  administration  of  the  municipal  affairs  of  this 
great  City. 


Hall  had  resorted  to  lies,  chicanery,  and  Bubterfuge,  in  order 
to  escape  the  consequences  of  Ins  dishonesty,  and  finding  all  these 
unavailing,  find  being  driven  into  a  corner  by  the  successive  steps 
that  were  being  taken  to  bring  him  to  justice,  he  throws  off  the 
mask,  and  sends  a  copy  of  the  following  hitter  to  each  of  the 
gentlemen  who  had  signed  the  communication  just  quoted  : — 

"Mayors  Office,  August  12th,  1881. 

-  To   ,  One  of  the  Signers  of  the  Communication  ad<1rvssv<1  to 

the  t  '//</<  rsiijn,  ,1 : 
KftIK — I  l„.n  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  said  communication. 
I  have  returned  it  to  the  Chairman, —  1st.  Because  it  is  not  a  com- 
munication which  any  gentleman  should,  with  knowledge  of  its 

contents,  have  signed,  and  certainly  not  one  a'  gentleman  can  receive. 
kJd.  Because  it  tfl  On  its  fact1  incorrect,  inasmuch  as  most  of  the 
signers  are  not  residents  either  of  the  Twelfth  or  Nineteenth 
Wards,  and  herein  it  evidences  how  mistakenly  individuals  niav 

sign  papers.    3d.  1  am  reliably  informed  t  hat  not  one-tenth  of  the 


17 


signers  were  at  the  meeting.  4th.  I  am  reliably  informed  that  the 
resolutions  were  not  passed,  because  the  Chairman  failed  to  put  the 
negative.  5th.  Because  the  fourth  '  whereas  '  preceding  the  reso- 
lutions, is  surely  known  to  most  of  you  to  be  untrue,  as  the  under- 
signed, immediately  on  the  publication  of  the  slanders,  broadly  de- 
nied them  under  his  own  signature.  Gth.  Because  of  the  general 
insulting  tone,  and  especially  in  the  resolution  attacking  bonds  and 
recommending  the  non-payment  of  taxes.  I  beg  to  add  that  it  is  not 
for  any  of  you  to  ask  me  to  resign  under  any  circumstances.  Every 
one  of  you  opposed  my  re  election  last  Autumn  ;  and,  at  a  time  when 
these  charges,  in  a  general  way,  had  been  long  made  and  fully  met,  I 
received  a  handsome  popular  indorsement  against  the  slanders.  My 
then  supporters  are  satisfied  with  me  now.  They  remember  that 
for  twelve  years  I  was  District  Attorney,  and  in  an  office  where  in- 
vitations to  corruption  were  more  frequent  than  in  any  other,  and 
that  my  character  remained  throughout  as  unblemished  as  I  know 
it  to  be  now.  I  shall  do  in  my  high  office  whatever  my  official  oath 
and  official  judgment  requires;  and  while  I  am  always  grateful  for 
advice  temperately  given  and  courteously  advanced,  I  indignantly 
reject  coercive  rhetoric,  threatening  language,  and  insulting  com- 
munications. "  Very  truly, 

"A.  OAKEY  HALL.''  . 

But  even  here  the  same  reckless  disregard  for  truth  that  has 
been  the  marked  characteristic  of  all  of  Hall's  statements  is  again 
manifest.  1st.  He  says  that,  immediately  after  the  publication  of 
the  charges  contained  in  the  Times,  he  broadly  denied  them  under 
his  own  signature.  This  is  absolutely  untrue,  as  he  has  never 
replied  to  a  single  specification  of  any  one  of  these  charges,  either 
under  his  own  signature  or  over  it,  or  in  his  own  paper,  or  in  any 
of  the  other  papers  that  are  always  so  obsequiously  subservient 
to  his  will.  2d.  He  says  that  last  Autumn  the  "charges,  in  a  gen- 
eral way,  had  been  long  made  and  fully  met."  Here  is  another 
impudent  falsehood.  The  charges  that  have  recently  been  made 
by  the  Times,  and  to  which  Hall  refers,  had  not  been  made  in  "a 
general  way,"  or  any  other  way,  previous  to  last  Autumn,  and  for 
the  very  good  reason  that  the  excerpts  upon  which  they  are  based 
never  had  any  existence  previous  to  (nor  for  a  considerable  time 
after)  last  Autumn.  But  as  the  glaring  inaccuracies  in  Hall's 
flippant  letter,  and  in  other  statements  previously  made,  are  fully 


% 


18 


exposed  in  the  following  letter  from  the  President  of  the  Twelfth 
and  Nineteenth  Wards  Citizens'  Association,  it  is  given  in  fill]  : 

"  Hon.  A.  Oakey  Hall,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Nau  York  : 

"  Sir — Your  printed  circular,  dated  12th  inst.,  was  only  delivered 
to  me,  through  the  Post-Office,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  17th  instant. 
The  matters  referred  to  in  the  communication,  to  which  this  circu- 
lar is  your  reply,  are  of  too  serious  a  character  to  be  slightingly 
dealt  with.  Had  you,  on  the  invitation  which  you  received,  attended 
the  meeting  of  the  Twelfth  and  Nineteenth  Wards  Citizens'  Asso- 
ciation, to  which  you  refer,  you  would  have  found  yourself  in  the 
company  of  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  signers  of  the  communica- 
tion addressed  to  you,  and  you  would  have  heard  me  put,  as  I  did, 
the  negative  upon  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions.  No  !  Doubtless  an 
effort  was  made  to  prevent  this  by  your  representatives  at  the  meet- 
ing, about  forty  in  number,  who  behaved  in  a  very  unseemly  man- 
ner. But  this  was  not  much  to  be  wondered  at,  considering  the 
fact  that  their  names  stand  upon  the  City  pay-rolls,  and  that  they 
acted  under  the  special  direction  of  one  of  the  Comptroller's  mes- 
sengers. 

"  If  you  will  again  read  the  last  resolution,  you  will  see  that,  along 
with  the  Committee  appointed  by  the  Association,  other  citizens 
were  invited  to  unite  with  them  to  have  the  resolutions  carried 
into  effect.  The  communication  to  you  did  not,  therefore,  as  you 
assert,  appear  incorrect  upon  its  face.  It  was  signed  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Association,  and  by  the  influential  gentlemen  whose 
names  were  appended,  all  of  whom  most  readily  and  cheerfully 
united  with  the  Committee  for  the  purpose  explained.  It  is  no- 
where stated  in  the  communication,  or  pretended,  that  these  gentle- 
men are  all  residents  of  the  Twelfth  or  Nineteenth  Wards  ;  and  if 
you  are  consoling  yourself  with  the  delusion  that  the  communica- 
tion was  mis  takingly  signed  by  them,  I  can  only  say  that  for  your 
own  sake  this  is  to  be  regretted.  Further  light  upon  the  subject 
will  be  afforded  you  ere  long. 

"  These,  however,  are  but  trivial  excuses,  and  are  put  forward  by 
you  merely  by  way  of  evasion  or  diversion.  But  we  are  not  thus 
to  be  trifled  with.  Further  concealment  of  the  City  and  County 
accounts  will  not  be  tolerated.  The  little  we  already  know  makes 
it  the  imperative  duty  of  every  citizen  to  do  what  in  him  lies  to 
have  the  whole  truth  disclosed    and,  if  further  incentive  to  this 


19 


were  necessary,  you  have  supplied  it  in  this  circular.  The  subter- 
fuge is  too  transparent. 

"  You  take  exception  to  the  following  preamble  to  the  resolu- 
tions in  question  : 

Whereas,  It  has  been  asserted  by  the  New  York  Daily  Times,  and  not  yet 
contradicted,  that  gross  frauds  have  been  committed  through  the  connivance  of 
his  Honor  the  Mayor,  Comptroller,  and  other  City  officials,  whereby  many  millions 
of  dollars  have  been  feloniously  abstracted  from  the  City  Treasury. 

''This,  you  say,  'is  surely  known  to  most  of  you  (the  gentle- 
men who  signed  the  communication)  to  be  untrue,  as  the  under- 
signed, immediately  on  publication  of  the  slanders,  broadly  denied 
them  under  his  (your)  own  signature/  One  occupying  your 
present  position  ought  to  have  a  good  memory.  The  Times'  asser- 
tion, as  you  know,  was  based  upon  certain  of  the  County  accounts 
which  were  laid  before  the  public.  You  have  never,  to  this 
day,  contradicted  the  accuracy  of  these  accounts.  True,  in  your 
card  of  the  22d  of  July  last,  you  deny  that  they  afford  evidence  of 
fraud,  and  attempt  to  throw  the  entire  responsibility  upon  others. 
I  quote  your  language  : 

The  claims  alluded  to  by  the  Time*  are  large,  and  they  may  have  been  exorbitant, 
but  no  responsibility  for  them  really  rests  icith  either  the  Comptroller  or  myself. 
They  were  audited  by  the  late  {and  what  is  known  as  the  old)  Board  of  Supervisors, 
abolished  when  the  new  City  Government  was  inaugurated,  and  most  of  the 
auditing  occurred  nearly  two  years  ago.  Many  of  the  claims  were  for  work  and 
materials  in  1868.  That  Board,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  elected  by  the  people, 
and  composed  equally  of  Democrats  and  Republicans.  The  same  majority  that 
audited  the  claims  had  the  power  to  re-audit  them  over  the  Mayor's  veto.  But 
the  Mayor  and  the  Counsel  to  the  Corporation  are  both  of  opinion  (as  I  think  every 
lawyer  will  be)  that  under  the  Revised  Statutes  the  audit  of  the  Board  is  final,  and 
is  not  one  of  those  acts  which  a  Mayor  could  veto. 

"It  is  charitable  to  suppose  that  at  the  time  you  penned  this 
statement  and  published  it  over  your  signature,  you  forgot  the  fact 
of  the  existence  of  an  interim  Board,  which  had  a  short  run 
of  power  between  the  old  and  the  new  Boards  of  Supervisors.  Let 
me,  therefore,  refresh  your  memory  a  little  as  to  this  rather  import- 
ant body.  Chapter  382  (section  4)  of  the  laws  of  1870,  provides 
that,  '  All  liabilities  against  the  County  of  New  York,  incurred 
previous  to  the  passage  of  this  Act,  shall  be  audited  by  the  Mayor, 
Comptroller,  and  present  President  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors, 
(William  M.  Tweed),  and  the  amounts  which  are  found  to  be  due 
shali  be  provided  for  by  the  issue  of  revenue  bonds  of  the  County 


20 


of  New  York,  payable  during  the  year  1871,  and  the  Board  of  Su- 
pervisors shall  include,  in  the  ordinance  levying  the  taxes  for  the 
year  1871,  an  amount  sufficient  to  pay  said  funds  and  the  interest 
thereon.  Such  claims  shall  be  paid  by  the  Comptroller  to  the  party 
ur  parties  entitled  to  receive  the  same,  upon  the  certificate  of  the 
officers  named  herein.' 

"  What  this  interim  Board  accomplished  under  cover  of  the  au- 
thority thus  conferred  upon  it,  we  have  certified  to  under  the  sig- 
natures of  both  yourself  and  the  Comptroller  in  your  message  and 
accompanying  accounts,  dated  June  12th  of  the  present  year.  You 
there  admit  that  you,  the  Comptroller,  and  Tweed  went  through 
the  form  of  auditing  and  allowing  claims  made  against  (he  County 
to  the  modest  amount  of  $6, 312,541. 37.  When  you  completed 
this  audit,  which  report  says  you  did  at  one  sitting,  you  raised 
the  full  amount  b}'  revenue  bonds  payable  in  1871,  and  thereupon 
signed  the  warrants  under  which  the  entire  sum  was  taken  from  the 
Treasury.  The  Comptroller's  accounts  of  June  12th  make  known 
the  further  important  fact,  that  it  was  out  of  this  sum  of  $6,312,- 

541.37  THAT  HE  PAID  ALL  THE  CLAIMS  MADE  AGAINST  THE  COUNTY 
DURING  THE  YEAR  1870,  FOR  WORK  DONE  OR  FURNISHINGS  SUP- 
PLIED, except  the  sum  of  $370,650,  on  account  of  the  Court-House 
building. 

"  Here,  therefore,  is  the  evidence  conclusive  that  the  responsi- 
bility does  rest  with  you,  and  the  Comptroller,  and  Mr.  Tweed  for 
all  the,  payments  made  to  Ingersoll,  Garvey,  Miller,  Keyser,  the 
Smiths,  and  others,  during  the  year  1870,  and  that  these  claims 
amount,  in  the  aggregate,  to  the  enormous  sum  of  $6,3  12.541.37. 

"  But  this  is  not  all.  You  admit,  and  the  accounts  pub- 
lished in  the  Times  show,  that  the  claims  thus  audited  by  you, 
the  Comptroller  and  Twekd,  were  stated  to  have  been  incurred 
(luting  the  years  1868  and  1869.  Now  turn,  if  you  please,  to  the 
Statutes,  chapter  854  of  the  laws  of  1868,  and  chapter  875  of 
the  laws  of  1869.  In  these  statutes  you  will  rind  fully  set  forth 
the  appropriations  made  by  the  Legislature  for  carrying  on  tin 
government  and  providing  for  the  ivorlc  to  be  performed  for  tht 
County  for  those  years  rcspectivehj,  and  in  each  statute  a  provision 
is  enacted  as  follows  :  i  The  said  several  sums  shall  he  applied  to 
the  objects  and  purposes  for  which  the  same  are  hereby  appropriated, 

except  as  herein  otherwise  provided:  <md  neither  tin-  Board  <>f  Su- 
crrisors  of  said  Couidy,  n<>r  any  officer,  agent,  or  member  there- 


21 


of.  or  head  of  department,  shall  incur  any  liability,  or  make  any 
contract  or  contracts,  or  permit,  or  vote  for,  or  authorize,  audit  or 
allow,  directly  or  indirectly,  any  expenditure  or  expenditures,  for 
any  of  the  objects  and  purposes  specified,  the  aggregate  of  which 
expenditures,  and  of  the  liabilities  under  such  contracts,  shall  ex- 
ceed the  sum  appropriated  for  said  purpose,  or  for  any  other 

PURPOSE  OR  OBJECT  THAN  THAT  HEREIN  SPECIFIED. ' 

"All  the  special  appropriations  made  by  the  statutes  referred  to 
were  paid  by  the  Comptroller  at  the  time.  Beyond  these  appro- 
priations, no  Board,  no  official  had  any  right,  power,  or  authority 
to  enter  into  any  contract,  or  incur  any  liability  for  work  or  fur- 
nishings for  which  the  County  could  be  made  legally  responsible. 
This  the  statutes  specially  declare.  You  knew  that;  so,  also,  did 
the  Comptroller  and  Tweed,  when  you  entered  upon  your  duties  as 
members  of  the  interim  Board.  And  with  this  knowledge,  how 
did  you  discharge  the  trust  reposed  in  you  ?  Claims  to  the 
amount  of  millions  of  dollars  were  presented  for  work  stated  to  be 
done  and  furnishings  supplied  to  the  County  during  the  years  1868 
and  1869.  Not  only  were  the  work  and  the  furnishings  thus 
claimed  never  performed  or  supplied  on  the  order  of  any  person 
authorized  to  act  in  the  matter  for  the  County,  but  many  of  the 
claims  were,  as  the  Times  has  already  shown,  fraudulent  upon 
their  lace,  some  of  them  being  made  out  in  the  names  of  parties 
who  did  not  exist,  and  under  other  forms  of  device.  Notwithstand- 
ing all  this,  however,  you  allowed  the  claims — you  passed  them 
all — you  paid  them  ;  and,  having  clone  so,  now  turn  round,  and  at- 
tempt to  throw  off  the  responsibility,  and  place  it  upon  a  Board 
composed  half  of  Republicans  and  half  of  Democrats.  But,  sir, 
this  will  not  do.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  politics,  but  of  honesty  and 
fair  dealing ;  and  the  sooner  this  is  realized  by  you,  the  better.  It 
must  be  admitted — and  I,  a  life-long  Democrat,  do  admit  it — that 
not  even  a  nominal  Republican  had  anything  to  do  with  the  pass- 
ing and  paying  of  the  86,312,541.37  of  fraudulent  claims  paid 
in  1870  ;  and  when  you  publish  the  accounts  you  have  promised,  I 
undertake  to  show  that,  under  the  operation  of  the  *'  accumulated 
debt  bonds,'  b3th  you  and  the  Comptroller  are  equally  responsible 
for  all  similar  claims  paid  in  1869. 

**I  am  quite  aware  of  the  measures  that  are  being  taken  to  add 
the  above  86.312,541.37  to  the  permanent  debt  of  the  County  ;  but 


22 


as  to  thip,  and  several  other  matters,  I  intend  you  shall  hear  from 
me  in  a  different  way 

"  Yours  respectfully, 

JOHN  FOLEY. 

''President  Twelfth  a  id  Nineteenth  Wards  Citizens'  Association.''* 

New  York,  August  19th.  1871. 

Here,  it  will  be  perceived,  the  pet  theory  of  Hall — that  the  old 
Board  of  Supervisors  were  alone  responsible  for  the  frauds  that 
have  recently  been  exposed — is  completely  exploded,  and  another 
charge,  which  had  not  been  previously  mentioned,  is  brought  home 
to  him.  Steeped  in  villany  and  crime,  he  determined  to  play  a  des- 
perate game.  Openly  charged  with  dishonesty,  he  does  not  dare 
meet  his  accusers,  but  attempts  to  brave  public  opinion,  and  to  set 
at  defiance  those  who  have  sought  to  bring  him  to  an  account  for 
his  official  misconduct.  In  the  quality  of  brazen  impudence  and 
shamelessness,  he  is  the  peer  of  the  most  notorious  criminal  of  mod- 
ern times.  To  shield  himself  from  the  consequences  of  his  crimes, 
lie  has  resorted  to  lies,  bribery,  and  intimidation,  but  all  have  been 
equally  futile:  and  now,  with  the  alternative  of  flight  or  the  State 
Prison  staring  him  in  the  face,  we  are  willing  to  hand  him  over  to 
the  judgment  of  the  people  he  has  so  basely  betrayed. 

William  M.  Tweed. 
William  M.  Tweed  is  a  man  of  very  humble  origin,  and  is 
naturally  ignorant  and  brutal.  In  his  youth  he  worked  as  a  jour- 
neyman at  the  trade  of  chair-making,  but,  either  from  a  want  of 
industry  or  some  other  unexplained  cause,  he  did  not  continue  at 
the  business,  but  became  what  was  known,  in  the  old  Volunteer 
Fire  Department,  as  a  "bunker"  round  an  engine-house,  i.  c,  a 
confirmed  loafer,  who  "bunked"  in  the  engine-house,  and  had 
neither  home  nor  occupation.  At  one  time  he  engaged  in  business, 
selling  chairs,  and  after  getting  credit  to  a  limited  amount,  he 
"  failed,"  and  left  his  creditors  to  whistle  for  their  money.  Event- 
ually he  attracted  the  attention  of  some  of  the  knaves  <»f  politicians 
who  have  been  the  curse  of  the  City  for  years,  and,  as  he  succeeded 
in  gaining  the  position  of  Foreman  of  %t  Big  Six  "  Engine  Company, 
he  soon  became  an  object  of  interest  to  Boole  and  the  gang  that  were 
then  engaged,  as  he  has  been  at  a  more  nrcnt  period,  iu  robbing  the 
City.    By  attending  primary  elections,  with  a  gang  of  roughs  at  his 


back,  and  by  doing  the  dirty  work  for  some  of  the  dirtiest  poli- 
ticians in  the  City.  Tweed  soon  gained  such  a  hold  on  the  magnates 
of  Tammany  that  they  finally  gave  him  a  foothold  as  one  of  their 
band.  Ten  years  ago  he  was  a  bankrupt — without  money,  without 
credit,  and  without  character  ;  to-day  he  is  worth  several  millions 
of  dollars,  and  ostentatiously  boasts  that,  after  Astor  and  Stewart, 
he  owns  more  real  estate  than  any  other  man  in  the  City.  The 
question  naturally  suggests  itself :  How  did  he  obtain  his  wealth  ? 
Whatever  the  legal  aspect  of  the  case  may  be — whether  through  the 
agency  of  his  friend,  District  Attorney  Garvin,  he  may  be  able  to 
escape  the  penalty  which  his  crimes  merit — there  can  be  no  doubt 
in  the  mind  of  any  man  who  has  given  the  subject  any  attention, 
but  that  Tweed  is  the  most  rapacious  and  unscrupulous  thief  among 
the  infamous  quartette  who  now  rule  the  City.  His  first  step 
towards  acquiring  wealth  and  power  was  in  securing  his  election  to 
the  State  Senate.  Being  of  low,  brutal  instincts,  and  having  asso- 
ciated all  his  life  with  the  lowest  ruffians  who  lived  in  the  district 
where  he  intended  to  run.  added  to  the  fact  that  he  was  foreman 
of  the  most  disreputable  engine  company  in  the  City,  his  election 
became  an  easv  matter.  His  first  aim  after  entering  the  Legisla- 
ture  was  to  find  some  kindred  spirits  who  would  co-operate  with 
him  in  carrying  out  certain  schemes  of  plunder,  and  from  that  time 
forward  every  corporate  company  and  every  individual  who  required 
legislation  for  any  purpose,  or  whose  interests  could  be  effected  by 
the  action  of  our  law-makers,  had  to  pay  tribute  to  Tweed  and  his 
friends.  While  holding  the  position  of  State  Senator  he  also  held 
the  position  of  Supervisor — was  the  leading  spirit  and  President  of 
the  old  Board  of  Supervisors,  that  has  been  denounced  as  the  most 
scandalously  corrupt  body  that  ever  disgraced  a  civilized  commu- 
nity— and  also  the  position  of  Deputy  Street  Commissioner.  The 
first  two  he  used  to  put  money  in  his  pocket,  but  the  last  was  used 
mainly  to  enable  him  to  keep  a  regiment  of  ruffians  about  him  who 
were  paid  out  of  the  City  Treasury,  and  to  afford  lucrative  positions 
to  men  who  might  be  of  service  in  promoting  his  political  and 
pecuniary  interests.  By  employing  the  same  agencies  that  he  had 
used  to  secure  his  own  election,  he  gradually  worked  his  parti- 
cular friends  into  positions  where  he  could  use  them,  and  then 
commenced  a  scheme  for  surrounding  every  department  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  City  and  County  with  a  perfect  network,  which 
would  enable  himself  and  his  confederates  to  appropriate  to  their 


24 


own  use  the  greater  part  of  the  City  and  County  revenues.  The 
new  Court-House  has  been  a  mine  of  wealth  to  these  thieves  from 
its  very  inception.  The  quarry  from  which  the  marble  was  sup- 
plied was  bought  by  the  gang  for  a  mere  nominal  price,  and  has 
since  netted  them  millions  of  dollars.  The  old  fire  engine-houses 
were  turned  over  to  "  Andy  "  Garvey  and  other  cronies  of  Tweed's 
at  rents  ranging  from  $50  to  $150  a  year,  and  some  of  them  have 
been  let  by  these  fellows  as  high  as  $5,000  a  year.  The  public 
schools,  the  different  departments  of  the  government,  and  the  pub- 
lic institutions  under  the  control  of  the  City  authorities,  all  needed 
furniture,  and  Tweed  started  a  furniture  manufactory  in  connec- 
tion with  James  H.  Ingersoll,  who  has  since  achieved  a  notoriety 
as  the,  most  shameless  thief  among  the  fraternity  of  scoundrels 
whom  we  are  now  describing.  Tweed's  next  step  was  to  get  con- 
trol of  a  worthless  little  newspaper  called  The  Transcript,  and 
then  to  introduce  a  bill  into  the  Legislature  making  this  miserable 
little  sheet  the  official  organ  of  the  City  Government.  This  sheet 
receives  over  a  million  dollars  a  year  for  printing  the  proceedings 
of  the  Common  Council,  but  the  proceedings  of  the  corrupt  Board 
of  Supervisors  are  studiously  concealed  from  the  public. 

Tweed's  next  step  was  to  establish  "The  New  York  Printing 
Company. "  This  gives  Tweed  a  pretext  for  rendering  enormous  bills 
for  printing  for  the  different  departments  of  the  City  Government; 
and  although  the  amount  of  work  actually  performed  is  only 
trifling,  and  consists  mainly  in  printing  blank  forms  and  vouchers, 
still  the  amount  annually  paid  out  of  the  Treasury  to  this  Com- 
pany is  something  enormous — amounting  during  the  year  1870  to 
over  $2,800,000.  Nor  is  this  all.  When  this  Company  was  first 
started,  a  portion  of  a  building  on  Centre  street  was  found  sufficient 
for  its  accommodation.  Since  then  it  has  absorbed  three  of  the 
largest  printing  establishments  in  the  City,  and  also  three  or  four 
smaller  ones,  and  a  lithographing  establishment.  Why  have 
these  extensive  establishments  been  secured?  Simply  this :  In- 
surance Companies,  Steamboat  Companies,  Ferry  Companies,  and 
other  corporations  require  an  enormous  amount  of  printing.  Each 
of  these  associations  may  be  subjected  to  serious  loss  and  incon- 
venience, by  the  passage  of  legislative  enactments  abridging  the 
privileges  they  now  enjoy,  or  requiring  them  to  submit  to  some 
vexatious  and  expensive  regulation.  Hence,  when  they  receive 
notice  that  "  The  New  York  Printing  Company  "  is  ready  to  do  their 


25 


printing,  they  know  that  they  must  consent,  and  pay  the  most 
exorbitant  rate  for  the  work  done,  or  submit  to  Tweed's  exactions 
during  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature. 

In  addition  to  the  Printing  Company,  Tweed  has  a  "  Manufac- 
turing Stationers'  Company  "  which  furnishes  all  the  stationery  used 
in  the  Public  Schools,  the  public  institutions,  and  the  several  de- 
partments of  the  City  Government.  This  concern  receives  not  less 
than  £3,000,000  a  year  oat  of  the  City  Treasury.  As  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  way  they  do  tilings,  we  will  cite  one  instance  :  During 
the  month  of  April  of  the  present  year,  an  order  was  sent  to  this 
Company  for  stationery  for  the  County  Bureau.  In  due  time  it 
was  delivered,  and  consisted  of  about  six  reams  of  cap  paper,  and 
an  equal  quantity  of  letter  paper,  with  a  couple  of  reams  of  uote 
paper.  There  were,  also,  about  two  dozen  penholders,  four  small 
ink  bottles,  such  as  could  be  bought  at  retail  for  35  or  40  cents, 
a  dozen  small  sponges  for  pen- wipers,  half  a  dozen  office  rulers, 
and  three  dozen  boxes  of  rubber  bands  of  various  sizes — the  entire 
amount  worth  about  fifty  dollars  at  retail.  For  this  stationery,  a 
bill  of  Ten  Thousand  Dollars  was  rendered  soon  after,  and  was 
duly  paid,  and  similar  claims  are  presented  for  stationery  for  every 
bureau  and  department  of  the  government,  almost  every  month 
throughout  the  year — and  are  always  promptly  paid,  although 
persons  having  legitimate  claims  against  the  same  appropriation 
could  not  obtain  a  dollar.  But  not  content  with  the  enormous 
amuunts  that  are  thus  obtained  under  false  pretenses,  Tweed  even 
charges  the  City  with  the  wages  of  the  different  persons  employed 
in  these  several  establishments,  and  makes  a  large  percentage  ou 
the  amounts  thus  drawn  from  the  Treasury.  For  instance  : 
Charles  E.  Wilbour  is  President  of  the  Printing  Company  and  also 
of  the  Stationers'  Company,  while  Cornelius  Corson  is  the  Secre- 
tary of  both  companies.  Wilbour  receives  $3,000  a  year  as  Steno- 
grapher to  the  Bureau  of  Election*,  $2,500  as  Stenographer  in  the 
Superior  Court,  and  $3,500  a  year  for  "  examining  accounts  "  that 
lie  has  never  seen.  These  several  sums  are  drawn  out  of  the 
County  Bureau  alone,  and  he  holds  an  equal  number  of  sinecure 
positions  in  the  City  Bureau.  Corson  is  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Elections,  for  which  he  receives  $6,000  a  year  ;  and  he  also  receives 
$3,500  for  "  examining  "  the  same  accounts,  for  which  Wilbour 
receives  a  similar  sum;  and,  like  Wilbour,  he  has  never  seen  the 
accounts. 


26 


In  order  to  enable  him  to  carry  out  his  different  .schemes  of  rob- 
bery with  entire  success,  it  became  necessary  for  Tweed  to  secure 
the  services  of  men  who  were  as  destitute  of  honesty  as  he  is  him- 
self, and  who  had  nothing  to  lose  and  everything  to  gain  by  entering 
into  such  an  alliance.  "  Send  a  thief  to  catch  a  thief,"  is  an  old 
adage,  and  its  wisdom  was  fully  verified  in  Tweed's  case;  for  he  not 
only  caught  one  thief,  but  he  captured  a  small  battalion  of  them. 
Wilbour  had  been  one  of  the  long-haired,  free-love  fraternity  of  the 
Tribune,  and,  like  the  majority  of  his  craft,  was  not  overburdened 
with  either  money  or  conscience.  Tweed  made  him  Editor  of  the 
Transcript,  and  President  of  two  of  his  companies,  and  he  has 
amassed  a  handsome  fortune  out  of  his  percentage  of  the  stealings. 
Corson  had  been  an  errand  boy  in  the  office  of  the  Evening  Ex- 
press;  had  subsequently  learned  to  work  as  a  compositor,  but 
abandoned  that  business,  and  turned  his  attention  to  fleecing  re- 
cruits of  their  bounty  under  the  auspices  of  the  notorious  Orison 
Blunt,  who  practiced  an  organized  system  of  robbery  during  the 
war.  Corson  made  some  money  in  this  laudable  business,  and  then 
entered  into  arrangements  with  Tweed,  who  made  him  Chief  of  the 
Bureau  of  Elections,  and  Secretary  of  two  of  his  Companies.  Cor- 
son has  charge  of  all  claims  pertaining  to  advertising,  printing,  and 
stationery,  and  manages  to  absorb  nine-tenths  of  every  appropria- 
tion that  is  made  for  these  purposes.  James  H.  Ingersoll.  another 
of  Tweed's  fuglemen,  is  a  son  of  Lorin  Ingersoll  (of  71  Bowery), 
who  is  a  chair  manufacturer,  and  lor  whom  Tweed  worked  in  his 
younger  days.  When  Tweed  first  ran  for  State  Senator,  the  senior 
Ingersoll  helped  him  with  some  money,  and  in  return  tor  this,  Tweed 
put  some  jobs  through  the  Board  of  Supervisors  for  Ingersoll,  and 
eventually  took  the  son  under  his  protection.  The  latter  evinced 
such  an  extraordinary  aptitude  for  rascality  that  Tweed  soon  weni 
into  partnership  with  him  in  the  furniture  business,  and  since  then 
Ingersoll  litis  taken  care  of  the  interests  of  the  linn  in  all  the  fraud- 
ulent jobs  connected  with  the  new  Court-Hotise  and  the  armories 
of  the  National  Guard.  Those  who  have  seen  Ingersoll  can  scarcely 
realize  the  fact  that  he  is  such  a  consummate  scoundrel.  He  is  a 
young  man,  rather  prepossessing  in  appearance,  and  of  quiet,  un- 
obtrusive manners.  But,  whether  it  arises  from  a  naturally 
depraved  nature,  or  from  a  defective  mental  organization,  which 
prevents  him  from  opmprehending  the  magnitude  of  his  crimes,  it 
is  a  fact  that  there  is  no  species  of  villany  that  he  is  not  capable 


27 


of  embarking  in.  Lies,  fraud,  and  forgery  are  the  never-varying 
concomitants  of  his  daily  life — and  this,  too,  without  the  poor  ex- 
cuse of  being  driven  to  it  by  necessity,  which  might  be  resorted  to 
with  some  plausibility  by  many  of  his  confederates. 

Andrew  J.  Garvey  is  another  of  Tweed's  accomplices.  Like  his 
patron  and  prototype,  his  early  days  were  chiefly  devoted  to  loafing 
and  running  to  fires — he,  too,  being  a  "bunker"  of  the  old  fire  de- 
partment. At  times  he  is  said  to  have  had  an  industrious  fit,  and 
then  he  would  carry  a  hod,  or  do  other  labor  for  his  brother,  who 
was  a  plasterer.  "  A  fellow-feeling,"  we  are  told,  "  makes  us 
wondrous  kind,'"'  and  Tweed,  feeling  that  he  had  met  a  kindred 
spirit  in  Garvey,  kindly  took  him  into  his  confidence,  and  from  that 
time  to  the  present  they  have  both  worked  with  untiring  industry 
for  the  same  common  object,  viz.,  the  depletion  of  the  public  purse. 
John  H.  Keyser  is  another  of  Tweed's  jwoteges,  and  may  be  con- 
sidered the  "  Oily  Gammon  "  of  the  fraternity.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  is  connected  with  several  philanthrophic  enterprises, 
but  he  is  steeped  to  the  roots  of  his  hair  in  rascality.  He  is  en- 
gaged in  the  plumbing  business,  and  has  done  some  work  in  the 
New  Court-House  and  the  Armories.  He  renders  his  bill  for  the 
work  done,  and  pockets  his  share  of  the  cash;  but  in  a  little  while, 
when  called  upon  for  more  money,  he  goes  to  work  in  the  most 
bungling  manner  and  makes  out  five  or  six  fresh  bills  for  the  work 
for  which  he  has  already  been  paid.  He  flounders  about  in  a  ter- 
ribly awkward  manner,  however,  and  mixes  up  dates  (even  includ- 
ing Sundays),  in  such  an  absurd  way,  that  the  merest  school-boy 
could  not  fail  to  detect  the  fraud.  Still,  his  bills  have  never  been 
questioned  by  either  Hall  or  Connolly,  and  during  the  last  two 
years  he  has  drawn  over  $2,000,000  0llt  0f  the  Treasury,  for  which 
he  has  rendered  no  equivalent.  George  S.  Miller  is  another  of 
Tweed's  partners  in  crime:  but  he  is  a  mere  passive  tool,  and 
derives  less  substantial  benefit  from  the  robberies  to  which  he  is  a 
party,  than  either  of  the  others  with  whom  he  is  associated.  His 
father,  James  L.  Miller,  formerly  kept  a  small  carpenter  shop  in 
Fifth  street,  but  now  holds  a  position  in  the  Board  of  Public 
Works,  under  Tweed.  Young  Miller  has  been  acquainted  with 
Ingersoll  for  a  considerable  time,  and  doubtless  the  latter  thought 
that  he  might  as  well  use  the  name  of  Miller,  when  putting  in  fic- 
titious claims,  as  to  resort  to  his  accustomed  dodge  of  using  the 
names  of  men  who  have  no  existence.    But  while  Miller  may  not 


28 


derive  any  considerable  pecuniary  advantage  from  the  transactions 
with  which  his  name  is  associated  (checks  drawn  in  favor  of  Miller 
are  invariably  handed  over  to  Ingersoll),  still  he  is  as  clearly  cul- 
pable as  he  would  be  if  he  were  to  pass  a  check  that  had  been 
forged  by  Ingersoll,  or  to  hold  a  man  while  Ingersoll  picked  his 
pocket.  Mr.  Philip  Lewis,  a  gentleman  of  the  Israelitish  persua- 
sion, represents  Mr.  Tweed  in  the  Board  of  Education,  and  holds 
nearly  the  same  relative  position  to  Tweed  in  the  Public  Schools 
that  Ingersoll  docs  in  the  public  offices  and  armories.  Pie  makes 
extensive,  purchases  in  connection  with  his  department,  and  dis- 
charges his  duties  with  the  zeal  and  fidelity  which  characterizes  all 
of  our  public  servants;  and  it  will  doubtless  be  gratifying  to  his 
friends  to  know  that,  while  he  has  been  saving  money  to  the  De- 
partment of  Education,  he  has,  by  economy  and  strict  attention  to 
business,  succeeded  in  amassing  a  handsome  fortune. 

In  addition  to  these  several  sources  of  profit,  Tweed  started  a 
breech-loading  arms  company,  with  James  H.  Ingersoll  for  Presi- 
dent, purchased  a  lot  of  condemned  muskets  of  the  "Allen"  pat- 
tern, and  then  smuggled  a  bill  through  the  Legislature,  making  it 
obligatory  on  the  authorities  of  the  State  to  arm  the  National 
Guard  with  these  worthless  muskets.  He  also  established  a  bank, 
known  as  the  "  Tenth  National  Bank,"  the  operations  of  which 
have  involved  thousands  of  people  in  ruin.  The  terrible  "  Black 
Friday"  of  September,  1869,  when  the  gold  panic  reached  its 
climax,  and  threatened  to  overwhelm  the  entire  monetary  interests 
of  the  country  in  ruin,  must  be  fresh  in  the  memory  of  every  one. 
The  Ring  controlled  the  finances  of  the  City,  and  entered  into  an 
arrangement  with  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  Jay  Gould,  and  other  equally 
corrupt  men,  and  agreed  that  the  Tenth  National  Bank  should 
place  all  its  available  funds  at  their  disposal,  and  certify  checks  to 
an  unlimited  amount,  if  these  men  would  buy  up  all  the  gold  in 
the  market,  and  thus,  at  one  fell  swoop,  crush  our  principal  bank- 
ing institutions,  and  the  large  importers  who  were  obliged  to  buy 
gold  to  meet  the  demands  that  were  being  daily  made  upon  them. 
Checks  representing  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  were  thus  cer- 
tified, and  the  agents  of  the  Ring  were  pushing  forward  with  resist- 
less power,  when,  suddenly,  it  was  discovered  that  an  agent  of  the 
United  States  Treasury  was  on  his  way  to  this  City  to  examine 
into  the  condition  of  the  atfairs  of  the  Tenth  National  Bank;  the 
issue  of  certified  checks  was  stopped,  and  the  unfortunate  dupes 


29 


who  had  been  induced  to  act  for  Fisk,  Gould,  and  other  agents  of 
the  Ring,  were  swept  down  to  destruction  by  the  losses  resulting 
from  a  reaction  in  the  market,  ond  were  left  to  their  fate  by  the 
unprincipled  scoundrels  who  had  lured  them  on  to  ruin.  At  the 
time  of  these  eventful  occurrences,  Peter  B.  Sweeny  was  City 
Chamberlain,  and  the  other  members  of  the  Ring  held  the  posi- 
tions which  they  now  hold ;  and  it  was  by  using  the  moneys  under 
their  control,  and  by  a  gross  abuse  of  the  influence  which  their 
official  positions  conferred  on  them,  that  they  sought  to  ruin  the 
community  that  they  have  since  been  so  assiduously  robbing. 

With  these  worthy  allies,  and  with  the  City  Directory  before 
them,  from  which  to  manufacture  names  when  bills  in  their  own 
names  were  being  sent  in  too  rapidly,  and  with  a  Mayor  and  a  Comp- 
troller ready  to  pay  every  bill  submitted  to  them  (and  to  pocket 
their  share  of  the  plunder),  is  it  surprising  that  Mr.  Tweed  has 
amassed  millions  of  dollars  in  a  few  years,  or  that  he  should  in- 
dulge in  the  trifling  extravagance  of  buying  diamond  buttons  for 
his  chilclrens'  shoes  ?  But  it  is  not  in  the  new  Court-House,  the 
armories,  and  the  public  schools  alone  that  Tweed  has  his  friends. 
"  Hank-''  Smith  was  the  colleague  and  confidential  friend  of  Tweed 
in  the  old  Board  of  Supervisors  ;  he  succeeded  in  making  a  fortune, 
and  became  so  fascinated  with  the  business  that  he  has  continued  in 
it.  Mr.  Smith  professes  to  be  a  Republican,  but  there  is  not  a  scheme 
of  rascality  in  which  Tweed  has  been  engaged  for  the  last  ten 
years — from  robbing  the  tax-payers  to  buying  up  the  Legislature — 
that  he  has  not  had  the  earnest  support  of  Hank  Smith.  In  re- 
turn for  this,  Tweed  made  Smith  President  of  the  Board  of  Police 
Commissioners;  and  between  them  they  control  the  Police — and 
hope  to  control  the  votes — of  the  City.  Again,  Tweed  has  his 
bosom  friend,  "Billy"  Hichman,  President  of  the  Board  of  Fire 
Commissioners,  and  another  bosom  friend,  "  Aleck"  Frear.  hold- 
ing the  dual  position  of  Commissioner  of  Charities  and  Correction 
and  Commissioner  of  Emigration.  This  Frear  is  one  of  the  most 
unprincipled  scoundrels  to  be  found  amongst  the  whole  disreputa- 
ble gang  that  have  brought  disgrace  upon  our  public  men.  Some 
years  ago  he  failed  in  business  as  a  dealer  in  dry  goods,  and  made 
a  fraudulent  assignment  by  which  his  creditors  were  cheated  out  of 
their  money.  He  has  never  been  engaged  in  any- legitimate  busi- 
since,  and  cannot  own  a  dollar's  worth  of  property  in  his  own 
name  ;  but  he  has  accumulated  a  large  fortune  by  the  most  uefari- 


30 


ous  practices,  and  is  at  present  interested  in  almost  every  scheme 
of  fraud  that  has  been  inaugurated  by  the  Ring.  And  another 
intimate  friend  of  Tweed's,  Mr.  James  McGregor,  a  Tammany 
Republican  and  a  member  of  the  Amerieus  Club,  is  the  head  of  the 
Department  of  Inspection  of  Buildings;  while  still  another,  Mr. 
Mullally,  editor  of  The  Metropolitan  Record,  has  been  willing  to 
abdicate  his  title  as  an  honorable  gentleman  and  a  good  citizen, 
and  to  become  a  member  of  the  Health  Board,  and — the  tool  and 
apologist  of  Tweed  and  his  confederates.  Thomas  C.  Fields  is 
another  friend  of  Tweed's,  and  is  is  one  of  the  most  efficient  and 
unscrupulous  tools  of  the  Ring.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  is  also  Corporation  Attorney  and  a  Commissioner  of 
Public  Parks.  Three  years  ago  Fields  was  so  poor  that  he  could 
not  pay  his  legitimate  debts,  and  had  judgments  standing  against 
him.  To-day  he  is  a  wealthy  man,  having  just  completed  a  man- 
sion valued  at  $600,000.  His  private,  like  his  public  life,  has  been 
characterized  by  the  grossest  profligacy  and  the  most  utter  shame- 
lessness. 

By  appointing  his  confidential  friends  to  important  positions  in 
these  several  Boards  of  Commissioners,  Tweed  is  enabled,  to  a  certain 
extent,  to  control  the  different  departments  of  the  City  Govern- 
ment ;  while  at  the  same  time,  it  enables  him  to  keep  a  certain 
number  of  men  upon  the  rolls  of  these  several  departments,  and 
thus  carry  on  the  business  of  the  various  enterprises  in  which  he  is 
engaged,  at  the  expense  of  the  public. 

But  there  is  another  phase  of  Tweed's  operations  which  illus- 
trates the  character  of  the  man  quite  as  well  as  anything  that  has 
been  stated.  It  is  pretty  generally  known  among  business  men 
that  the  business  of  many  of  our  Life  Insurance  Companies  is  not 
conducted  in  strict  consonance  with  the  spirit  of  the  laws  that  are 
enacted  for  their  government,  nor  in  a  manner  that  would  be 
entirely  satisfactory  to  policyholders  if  the  affairs  of  these 
concerns  were  to  undergo  a  thorough  examination.  Knowing  this, 
Tweed  initiated  a  measure  in  the  Legislature  which  had  the 
effect  that  Tweed  intended  it  should  have,  viz.,  it  thoroughly 
alarmed  the  officers  of  the  Companies  referred  to,  as  they  knew  that 
an  investigation  into  their  affairs  would  result  in  winding  them  up. 
Having  succeeded  in  his  first  step,  he  immediately  proceeded  to 
the  full  development  of  his  scheme.  He  commenced  purchasing 
real  estate  in  tins  City  and  in  Harlem,  paying  twenty-rive  [or 


31 


fifty  per  cent  cash  and  allowing  the  balance  to  remain  on  bond  and 
mortgage  ;  while  he  would  force  one  of  the  Insurance  Companies  to 
loan  him  an  amount,  on  a  second  mortgage,  equal  to  the  entire 
amount  which  he  had  agreed  to  pay  for  the  property.  His  mode 
of  operating  was  this  :  He  would  buy  property  for  say  $100,000 
and  pay  $25,000  cash,  allowing  the  balance  to  remain  on  bond  and 
mortgage.  He  would  then  fix  the  value  of  this  property  at,  say 
$250,000,  subject  to  a  mortgage  for  75,000,  and  then  demand  a 
loan  of  $100,000  or  $150,000  on  a  second  mortgage,  thus  getting 
back  the  $25,000  that  he  had  paid  on  the  property,  and  from 
$75,000  to  $125,000  cash  with  which  to  carry  on  similar  opera- 
tions. 

It  was  within  Tweed's  knowledge  that  the  affairs  of  these 
Companies  were  not  in  a  satisfactory  condition,  and  that  their 
liabilities  were  largely  in  excess  of  their  assets  ;  but  instead  of 
using  this  knowledge  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  and  of  securing 
some  legislative  action  by  which  the  interests  of  policy-holders 
would  be  protected,  he  deliberately  embarks  in  a  scheme  to  extort 
money  from  these  Companies — knowing  that  the  moneys  thus 
obtained  must  eventually  come  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  poor 
people  who  had  paid  in  their  little  savings  in  order  to  make  some 
provision  for  the  future.  These  facts  entitle  Tweed  to  the  distinc- 
tion which  we  have  accorded  him  at  the  opening  of  this  sketch, 
viz.,  that  he  is  the  most  rapacious  and  unscrupulous  thief  among 
the  infamous  quartette  who  now  rule  this  City. 


Richard  B.  Connolly. 
Richard  B.  Connolly  was  born  in  the  County  Cork,  Ireland, 
and  early  acquired  a  knowledge  of  figures  from  his  father,  who  was 
a  village  school-master.  An  older  brother  of  Connolly's  came  to 
this  country  over  forty  years  ago,  and,  having  succeeded  in  saving  a 
little  money,  he  sent  for  Richard  B.,  but  up  to  the  present  day  the 
debt  has  never  been  canceled  Connolly  early  evinced  a  taste  for 
politics,  and  before  he  had  been  sufficiently  long  in  the  country  to 
entitle  him  to  vote,  he  succeeded  in  securing  the  nomination  for 
County  Clerk,  and  was  duly  elected.  The  facility  with  which  he 
made  and  broke  promises  was  his  most  marked  characteristic,  and 
so  notorious  did  this  practice  become  among  his  political  associates 
that  he  was  unanimously  accorded  the  marked  distinction  of  being 


32 


the  most  unmitigated  liar  in  the  community:  and  the  patronymic 
by  which  he  had  been  previously  known  soon  gave  place  to  the 
more  expressive  and  appropriate  cognomen  of  "Slippery  Dick," 
the  name  by  which  he  has  been  known  in  political  circles  from  that 
time  to  the  present.    Nor  was  this  the  mere  idle  expression  of  some 
graceless  wag,  taken  up  and  perpetuated  by  the  thoughtless  and 
vulgar,  as  are  some  of  the  slang  phrases  so  much  in  vogue.  The 
man  who  first  applied  the  term  "Slippery  Dick"  to  Connolly  was 
a  consummate  judge  of  human  nature  ;  for  Connolly  has  proved, 
in  every  position  in  which  he  has  been  placed,  to  be  both  "  slippery  " 
and  unreliable  ;  and  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  this  did  bis  cronies 
become,  that  they  allowed  a  long  series  of  years  to  elapse  before  he 
was  again  put  forward  for  any  political  position.    Finally,  when 
the  Democratic  party  was  divided  in  the  City,  and  there  was  little 
chance  of  the  nominees  of  either  fiction  being  elected,  Connolly 
managed  to  get  a  nomination  for  the  State  Senate,  and  by  appeal* 
ing  to  the  national  and  religious  prejudices  of  his  countrymen;  and 
by  resorting  to  the  "ballot-box  stuffing,"  and  "repeating''  for 
which  he  and  his  confederates  have  become  so  notorious,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  having  himself  declared  elected.    During  his  term  in  the 
State  Senate  many  important  measures  involving  large  railroad 
and  otber  interests  came  before  that  body  for  consideration  ;  and, 
according  to  Mayor  Hall,  whose  knowledge  of  such  matters  cannot 
be  questioned,  he  made  money  out  of  his  official  position.    Be  this 
as  it  may,  he  was  again  set  aside  by  his  political  friends,  and 
remained  in  the  background  until  1868,  when  he  was  nominated 
for  the  position  that  he  now  holds.     For  some  time  previous  to  the 
latter  date,  he  had  been  employed  as  a  Clerk  in  the  Central  National 
Bank  at  a  salary  of  about  $2,500  a  year.    But  as  he  had  a  couple 
of  grown-up  daughters  who  desired  to  ape  the  manners  and  habits 
of  the  empty-headed  daughters  of  more  prosperous  fathers,  Con- 
nolly found  it  extremely  difficult   to  keep  up  appearances  and 
"make  both  bads  meet."    TJlia  was  Connolly's  position  when  he 
was  taken  up  by  the  Tammany  leaders,  and  placed  in  a  position 
where  his  peculiar  talents  and  bis  utter  lack  of  principle  could  be 

turned  to  the  best  possible  advantage  in  promoting  the  schemes  of 

bis  patrons 

At  this  period  John  T.  Hoffman  was  Mayor,  and  desired  to  be- 
come Governor*  Peter  B.  Sweeny  was  City  Chamberlain,  and  vir- 
tually controlled  the  finances  of  the  City,  so  thai  Connolly  was,  in 


33 


fact,  only  the  nominal  head  of  the  Finance  Department  of  the  City 
Government.  He  was  too  shrewd,  however,  to  allow  other  people 
to  indulge  in  wholesale  lobbery  without  having  a  fair  share  of  the 
spoils;  and  even  if  he  had  not  been  shrewd  on  entering  the  office, 
he  would  have  received  too  many  useful  hints  from  the  late  James 
Watson,  who  was  then  Counly  Auditor,  not  to  fully  realize  the  ad- 
vantages to  be  derived  from  being  placed  in  such  a  position.  Wat- 
son was  a  living  illustration  of  what  may  be  accomplished  under 
favorable  circumstances  by  a  man  possessing  an  elastic  conscience. 
He  had  entered  the  Comptroller's  office  a  poor  man  (absolutely 
without  a  dollar,  in  fact),  and  had  never  received  a  larger  salary 
than  $7,500  a  year;  but  at  the  time  of  his  death,  only  four  years 
after  Connolly  had  entered  the  office,  Watson  was  supposed  to  be 
worth  between  two  and  three  millions  of  dollars. 

A  famished  tiger  never  rushed  upon  his  intended  victim  with 
more  eager  expectancy  than  Connolly  rushed  upon  the  people's 
money,  but  his  expectations  were  disappointed.  He  found  that, 
unless  he  could  adopt  some  expedient,  the  greater  part  of  the  plun- 
der would  be  absorbed  by  those  who  had  placed  him  in  his  position, 
while  he  would  have  to  content  himself  with  the  percentage  of  a 
junior  partner  who  had  been  taken  into  the  firm  without  capital. 
"  Slippery  Dick,  however,  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  A  careful 
examination  of  the  books  and  pay-rolls  of  his  department  developed 
the  important  fact  that  the  titles  of  several  accounts  might  be  du- 
plicated by  using  different  phraseology  to  convey  the  same  meaning; 
and  that  by  making  up  pay-rolls,  by  using  factitious  names  of  per- 
sons alleged  to  be  "  temporarily"  employed  in  his  department,  he 
could  even  cheat  the  "  heathen  Chinee  "  who  had  invited  him  to 
take  a  hand  in  this  little  game  of  robbery.  Hence,  Mr.  Slippery 
set  about  finding  additional  titles  for  several  of  the  accounts,  and 
in  this  way  "Adjusted  Claims,"  and  "  County  Liabilities,"  be- 
came synonymous  terms,  and  ail  moneys  drawn  on  either  account, 
instead  of  being  charged  to  any  appropriation,  became  a  part  of  the 
permanent  debt  of  the  City  and  County.  Under  the  same  skillful 
manipulation  "  County  Contingencies"  and  "  Contingencies  in  the 
Comptroller's  Office  "  meant  the  same  thing,  as  did  also  the  amount 
charged  to  "  Contingencies  in  the  Department  of  Finance,"  general- 
ly charged  in  the  City  accounts  to  make  it  less  conspicuous.  Again, 
there  are  three  distinct  pay-rolls  for  the  County  Bureau.  One  of 
these  contains  the  names  of  all  the  Clerks  regularlv  emploved  in 
3 


34 


the  Bureau,  and  about  a  dozen  names  of  persons  who  hold  sinecure 
positions  or — have  no  existence.  The  other  two  rolls  contain 
about  forty  names,  the  owners  of  which,  if  indeed  they  have  any 
owners,  have  never  worked  an  hour  in  the  department.  The  last 
two  rolls  are  called  "  Temporary  Rolls,"  and  the  persons  whose 
names  are  on  them  are  said  to  be  "  Temporary  Clerks"  in  the 
.Comptroller's  Office;  one  of  them  is  paid  out  of  the  regular  appro- 
priation of  u  Salaries  Executive/'  but  the  other  is  paid  out  of  a 
fund  raised  by  the  sale  of  "  Riot  Damages  Indemnity  Bonds,"  and 
becomes  a  part  of  the  permanent  debt  of  the  County.  Again, 
there  are  no  less  than  five  different  accounts  to  which  repairs  and 
furniture  for  any  of  the  public  offices,  or  the  Armories  of  the  Na- 
tional Guard,  can  be  charged;  while  more  than  half  of  the  aggre- 
gate thus  paid  out,  is  not  taken  out  of  any  appropriation,  but  is 
raised  by  the  sale  of  Revenue  Bonds  or  other  securities,  which  may 
be  converted,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Comptroller,  into  long  bonds, 
which  will  not  be  payable  until  1911 — forty  years  after  many  of 
the  frauds  which  called  them  into  existence  shall  have  been  success  - 
fully  consummated  by  Connolly  and  his  colleagues. 

In  addition  to  these  several  schemes  of  plunder,  Connolly  placed 
his  son  (who  is  a  worthy  representative  of  an  illustrious  sire)  in  the 
position  of  Auditor  in  the  City  Bureau,  where  all  the  claims  for 
street  openings,  grading,  paving,  &c,  are  paid,  as  are  also  the  host 
of  men  who  are  borne  on  the  rolls  of  the  Department  of  Public 
Works,  the  Department  of  Public  Parks,  the  Fire  and  Police  De- 
partments, and  all  the  other  departments  of  the  City  Government, 
and  where  the  opportunities  for  stealing  are  innumerable.  He  also 
placed  his  two  sons-in-law  in  important  positions — one  as  Sur- 
rogate, and  the  other  as  Deputy  Receiver  of  Taxes.  Not  one  of  the 
three  has  either  brains  or  energy  enough  to  earn  a  hundred  dollars  a 
month  in  any  legitimate  business  if  thrown  on  his  own  resources; 
but,  during  the  four  years  that  Connolly  has  been  in  office,  they  have 
all  succeeded  (through  street  opening  and  other  thieving  jobs,  added 
to  the  enormous  stealings  connected  with  their  respective  positions), 
in  amassing  handsome  fortunes. 

Instead  of  making  any  attempt  to  check  the  wholesale  robbery 
which  Tweed,  Hall,  and  Sweeny  desired  to  carry  out,  Connolly 
entered  fully  into  all  their  plans,  and,  while  doubting  their  sincerity 
and  cursing  them  for  their  exactions,  he  tried  to  prove  himself  a 
faithful  ally,  while  he  was  exerting  every  effort  to  strengthen  his 


35 


own  position  and  to  surround  himself  with  a  small  army  of  retainers 
upon  whose  support  he  might  confidently  rely.  When  the  Young 
Democracy  made  their  fight  in  Albany,  Connolly  watched  the  vary- 
ing phases  of  the  contest  with  painful  anxiety,  ready  to  declare 
allegiance  to  the  side  that  came  out  victorious.  Since  then,  the 
jealousy  between  Tweed  and  himself  has  been  more  intense,  and  it 
would  have  long  since  precipitated  an  open  rupture  if  they  had  not 
been  held  together  by  the  "  cohesive  power  of  public  plunder/7 
When  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the  County  Auditor's  position,  Tweed 
wanted  to  place  Corson  there,  in  order  to  have  a  more  effectual  check 
upon  Connolly.  Connolly  knew  that  Corson  was  as  unscrupulous  as 
his  master,  and  he  knew  also  that  there  was  nothing  connected  with 
the  inside  working  of  the  office  that  could  be  concealed  from  him 
if  he  once  got  in.  Hence  the  struggle  for  the  mastery  was  long  and 
bitter,  but  finally  a  compromise  was  effected  by  which  Corson  was 
to  have  control  of  certain  appropriations,  while  Stephen  C.  Lynes, 
Jr.,  the  County  Book-keeper,  was  to  be  the  nominal  Auditor.  This 
arrangement  answered  Connolly's  purpose  very  well,  as  he  would 
still  be  able  to  conceal  from  his  confederates  the  enormous  amount 
of  stealing  in  which  they  were  not  allowed  to  participate.  Lynes 
lias  been  in  the  department  for  a  dozen  years,  and  is  thoroughly 
familiar  with  ail  the  villainy  that  is  practiced  there,  but  he  has 
criminated  himself  so  far,  that  if  he  were  turned  out  of  his  position 
to-morrow,  he  would  not  dare  open  his  mouth  to  denounce  the 
thieves  With  whom  he  has  been  associated  ;  and  this  rule  applies 
with  equal  force  to  Deputy  Comptroller  Storrs,  and  every  other 
man  who  holds  an  important  position  in  the  department.  The 
manner  in  which  these  men  are  led  to  criminate  themselves  may  be 
briefly  described  as  follows  :  When  it  becomes  necessary  to  place 
a  man  in  an  important  position,  or  a  position  where  he  must 
necessarily  become  acquainted  with  the  secrets  of  the  office,  some 
one  who  is  already  in  the  confidence  of  the  thieves  throws  out  a  hint 
that  their  intended  victim  can  make  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  dol- 
lars a  month,  in  addition  to  his  salary,  by  placing  one  or  two  fictitious 
names  on  one  of  the  rolls,  and  drawing  the  checks  for  the  salaries 
to  which  actual  claimants  would  be  entitled  at  the  end  of  each  month. 
This  involves  the  necessity  of  signing  the  fictitious  names  on 
the  pay-roll,  or  voucher,  when  the  check  is  received,  and  indorsing 
the  same  name  on  the  check  before  the  bank  will  cash  it.  As  a 
general  rule,  the  men  who  hold  positions  in  the  department  are 


36 


politicians,  or  are  associated  with  politicians  and  appointed  through 
their  influence.  The  moral  sensibilities  of  such  men  are  not  gen- 
erally very  acute,  and  when  they  are  living  in  an  atmosphere  of 
venality  and  corruption,  and  witness  the  immense  power  that  the 
most  dishonest  men  in  the  community  wield,  it  is  scarcely  to  be 
wondered  at  if  they  generally  succumb  to  the  temptations  thus  held 
out,  and  think  themselves  fortunate  in  being  able  to  grab  even  so 
small  a  share  of  the  vast  sums  that  are  stolen  from  the  public.  The 
moment  a  man  takes  the  first  step  in  this  direction,  he  is  lost.  He 
has,  indeed,  ':sold  his  birth-right  for  a  mess  of  pottage!''  for  he 
becomes  the  mere  creature  and  the  slave  of  the  thieves  who  are 
above  him.  So  long  as  he  is  willing  to  do  their  bidding  and  to 
embark  in  every  description  of  rascality  at  their  dictation,  he  can 
go  along  very  smoothly  ;  but  if  he  should  become  troublesome  at 
any  time,  or  if  he  should  show  any  conscientious  scruples  when 
called  upon  to  execute  the  will  of  his  masters,  they  would  turn  him 
adrift  without  an  hour's  warning,  and  crush  him,  with  tli«:  evidence 
of  his  guilt  in  their  possession,  if  he  had  the  hardihood  to  whisper 
a  word  about  the  nefarious  transactions  that  he  had  witnessed. 

The  great  aim  of  the  Ring  has  been  to  concentrate  all  power  in 
their  own  hands,  and  to  surround  themselves  with  a  class  of 
creatures  who  are  utterly  destitute  of  honesty  and  decency,  and 
who  are  willing  to  embark  in  any  scheme  of  villainy  which  will 
serve  to  give  them  a  continued  lease  of  their  present  position. 
John  J.  Bradley  is  City  Chamberlain  and  also  a  member  of  the 
State  Senate.    Thomas  J.  Creamer  is  a  State  Senator  and  a  Tax 
Commissioner — receiving  $10,000  a  year  in  the  latter  position. 
Michael  Norton  is  a  State  Senator  and  one  of  the  Commissioners  of 
the  New  Court  House.    Henry  Genet  is  a  State  Senator  and  a 
Commissioner  of  the  Harlem  Court  House.    Tweed  is  a  State 
Senator  and  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works.    Frear,  Bpottfaw 
Hitchman,  Dennis  Burns,  Timothy  J.  Campbell,  Peter  Mitchell, 
Richard  Flanagan,  James  [mug  and  several  other  members  of 
Assembly,  hold  sinecure  positions  under  the  City  Government. 
The  several  positions  that  these  men  hold  are  either  in  the  gift  of 
t  ie-  Mayor,  or  bhe  heads  of  t  he  different  departments,  and  when  any 
Pleasure  affecting  these  functionaries  comes  up  in  the  Legislature, 
the  entire  delegation  from  this  City  have  to  vote  just  as  their 
masters  of  the  Ring  direct  them.    This  is  a  part  of  the  machinery 
by  which  our  rulers  are  enabled  to  perpetuate  their  power  :  but, 


37 


in  addition  to  this,  there  is  scarcely  a  keeper  of  a  low  groggery,  a 
policy  dealer,  a  gambler,  or  a  brothel  keeper  in  the  City,  whose  name 
cannot  be  found  upon  the  pay-rolls  of  one  of  the  departments  of 
the  City  Government. 

If  Connolly  were  an  honest  man,  not  one  of  these  men  could 
receive  a  dollar  from  the  City  Treasury;  but,  being  equally  as 
unscrupulous  as  his  colleagues  of  the  Ring,  and  fully  in  sympathy 
with  the  class  just  described,  he  interposes  no  obstacle  to  the  con- 
summation of  their  plans,  but  promptly  assists  them  by  every 
means  in  his  power  to  draw  moneys  for  which  they  have  never 
rendered  an  equivalent.  Not  content  with  this,  he  subjects  per- 
sons having  legitimate  claims  to  unnecessary  delays  and  hard- 
ships. If  a  man  who  is  not  a  member  of  the  Ring  has  the  misfor- 
tune to  hold  a  claim  against  the  City  he  is  kept  waiting  for  months, 
and  sometimes  years,  before  he  can  get  his  money.  Where  these 
claims  are  laro-e,  and  the  men  holding  them  are  in  urgent  need  of 
money,  they  are  often  obliged  to  sell  their  claims  to  one  of  the 
agents  of  the  Ring  for  fifty  or  sixty  cents  on  the  dollar  ;  but  imme- 
diately on  this  arrangement  being  completed  the  agent  aforesaid 
presents  his  claim  at  the  Comptroller's  Office,  and  it  is  paid  with- 
out any  delay. 

A  number  of  men  Avho  hold  positions  under  the  City  Govern- 
ment, and  who  live  beyond  their  means  have  made  a  practice  of 
assigning  their  salaries  to  persons  willing  to  advance  the  money 
before  it  became  due.  Many  of  these  men  were  able  to  find  some 
friend  who  would  advance  the  money  without  charging  any  thing 
for  its  use,  but  in  order  to  prevent  this,  and  to  give  a  mono- 
poly of  the  business  to  a  few  who  were  willing  to  charge  an  out- 
rageously exorbitant  percentage  for  the  use  of  the  money,  and  then 
to  divide  with  certain  parties  in  the  Comptroller's  Office,  a  notice 
was  conspicuously  displayed  in  various  parts  of  the  office,  sometime 
ago,  stating  that  no  assignments  for  salaries  would  be  received  on 
and  after  such  a  date.  A  clerk  named  "  Mike"  Moloney  manipu- 
lates this  branch  of  the  business  in  the  County  Bureau,  and  also 
looks  after  the  armorers  of  the  different  regiments,  who  are  sup- 
posed to  receive  two  dollars  a  day,  and  others  having  petty  claims 
against  the  department.  Moloney  sits  opposite  the  door  by  which 
his  victims  have  to  enter,  and  watches  for  them  with  all  the  avidity 
that  a  spider  might  watch  the  approach  of  a  fly.  The  moment  an 
unlucky  claimant  makes  his  appearance  Moloney  jumps  on  his  feet, 


38 


and  steps  forward  to  the  counter  to  meet  him.  Bending*  forward 
he  listens  to  the  application  of  the  victim,  and  then  by  a  series  of 
ominous  shakes  of  his  head,  and  "  the  oft-told  tale"  repeated  in 
half-smothered  whispers,  he  tries  to  convince  the  applicant  that 
there  is  no  prospect  of  him  receiving  his  money  for  some  time  to 
come,  and  that,  if  he  really  needs  it,  he  had  hetter  go  over  to  the 
City  Hall  and  see  Mr.  Thomas  Colligan.  The  victim  has  no  alter- 
native. His  necessities  are  such  that  he  most  raise  some  money, 
so  he  enters  the  City  Hall  to  find  Mr.  Colligan,  and,  having  found 
him,  he  comes  out  feeling  much  the  same  as  if  he  had  lost  his  pocket- 
book  ;  while  the  genial  Mr.  Colligan  pockets  £;the  little  differ- 
ence," invites  Moloney  to  dinner,  and  quietly  divides  the  spoils 
while  sipping  his  Champagne  or  smoking  a  Havana. 

In  short,  the  thieves  in  the  office  of  Comptroller  tight  with  two- 
edged  swords,  which  cut  open  the  public  purse  and  penetrate  the 
vitals  of  honest  claimants  at  the  same  moment.  There  is  no  de- 
scription of  villainy  that  it  is  possible  for  unscrupulous  men  to 
attempt  in  connection  with  the  office  that  is  not  practiced  by  those 
who  are  now  there  ;  and  no  scheme  can  be  devised  for  taking  money 
out  of  the  Treasury  that  the  machinery  for  drawing  it  out  is  not 
immediately  put  in  operation.  And  this,  too,  with  the  full  knowl- 
edge and  approval  of"  Slippery  Dick  "  Connolly. 

PETER  B.  SWEENY. 

The  illustrious  progenitor  of  this  wonderful  genius  kept  a  rum- 
shop  on  Park  Row,  and  it  was  in  this  dingy  abode,  reeking  with  the 
fumes  of  whiskey  and  the  exhalations  of  the  (literally)  "unwashed 
Democracy,"  that  Peter  B.  first  imbibed  the  knowledge  of  public 
ailairs,  and  the  lessons  in  State-craft  which  have  since  made  him 
famous. 

It  is  asserted,  on  apparently  good  authority,  that  Sweeny  entered 
a  law  office  as  an  errand  boy  while  he  was  still  a  youth,  and  that  it 
is  to  the  smattering  of  law  which  he  then  acquired,  that  he  owes  his 
subsequent  admission  to  the  bar.  Be  this  as  it  may,  Sweeny  never 
held  any  rank  among  the  able  lawyers  of  the  New  York  bar.  He 
found  the  problem  of  Metropolitan  politics  much  more  easy  of  solu-  ' 
tion  than  the  mastery  of  profound  legal  questions,  and  preferred  to 
cultivate  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  members  of  the 
"Spartan  Band,1' and  the  popular  amusement  of  ballot-box  stnf- 


39 


fing,  rather  than  to  waste  his  time  on  mere  abstract  theories  ot  right 
or  wrong,  or  to  puzzle  his  brain  over  the  abstruse  philosophy  of 
Kent  or  Blackstone.  Acting  on  this  principle,  he  sought  a  nom- 
ination to  the  position  of  Counsel  to  the  Corporation,  received  it, 
and  was  duly  elected.  This  position  required  a  faculty  for  manip- 
ulating jobs,  but  no  legal  acumen,  and  as  Sweeny  was  fully  up  to 
the  required  standard  in  both  particulars,  he  fully  realized  the  ex- 
pectations of  the  men  who  placed  him  in  the  position,  and  was  very 
successful.  At  a  more  recent  period  he  was  elected  to  the  position 
of  District  Attorney;  but  shrinking  from  a  mental  contest  with  the 
able  criminal  lawyers  who  practiced  in  our  courts,  he  obtained 
leave  of  absence  to  go  to  Europe,  and,  on  his  return,  resigned  his 
position,  and  has  since  devoted  himself  entirely  to  politics. 

He  was  appointed  City  Chamberlain,  to  succeed  the  late  Daniel 
Devlin,  and  held  the  position  until  his  term  had  nearly  expired, 
when  he  considerately  resigned  to  make  way  for  his  brother-in-law, 
John  J.  Bradley,  who  was  appointed  for  the  full  term,  while  James 
M.  Sweeny  remained  in  the  position  of  Deputy  Chamberlain,  to 
which  he  had  been  appointed  by  his  brother. 

When  Sweeny  entered  on  the  duties  of  City  Chamberlain,  he 
astonished  a  good  many  simple  people  by  turning  over  the  interest  on 
the  city  deposits  to  the  City  Treasury — where  it  properly  belonged. 
But  this  very  clever  and  apparently  disinterested  act  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Sweeny,  was  only  one  of  the  many  little  tricks  to  which  he 
has  resorted  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the 
public;  and  was  about  on  a  par  with  the  liberality  of  the  thief  who 
robbed  a  drunken  man,  but  considerately  returned  ten  cents  to  the 
pocket  of  his  victim,  to  enable  him  to  get  a  drink  on  waking  up, 
and  to  prove  that  the  thief  was  not  as  bad  as  he  might  be.  While 
Mr.  Sweeny  was  making  a  great  parade  of  his  honesty  in  returning 
certain  moneys,  to  which  he  had  not  the  shadow  of  a  claim,  to  the 
Treasury,  he  was  conniving  at  a  system  of  wholesale  robbery, 
and  participating  in  the  profits  accruing  therefrom.  Every  fraudu- 
lent claim  that  was  paid  during  his  term  in  office,  was  paid  with 
his  knowledge  and,  at  least,  tacit  approval,  as  the  checks  that  were 
paid  out,  in  liquidation  of  these  claims,  were  subsequently  returned 
from  the  Bank  to  Sweeny  (as  City  Chamberlain),  and  were  all  re- 
corded in  the  department  of  which  he  was  the  head.  Those  checks 
bore  upon  their  face  the  evidence  of  fraud,  and  if  Sweeny  had  been 
an  honest  man,  or  a  faithful  public  servant,Uie  would  have  exposed 


40 


these  frauds  and  thus  have  saved  millions  of  dollars  to  the  Tax- 
pavers  of  the  City. 

Sweeny's  participation  in  the  infamous  operations  of  James 
Fisk,  Jr..  in  connection  with  the  manipulation  of  Erie  Railroad 
stock,  &c.j  is  well  known  to  those  who  are  familiar  with  his  career  ; 
as  is  also  his  connection  with  the  Tenth  National  Bank.  Sweeny 
was  City  Chamberlain,  and  had  the  immediate  control  of  the  City 
funds  on  the  eventful  "  Black  Friday/'  which  involved  so  many 
business  men  in  ruin.  If  the  scheme  to  run  up  the  price  of  gold 
did  not  actually  originate  with  him,  he  was  fully  cognizant  of  all 
that  it  was  intended  to  accomplish,  and  mainly  instrumental  in 
giving  it  a  practical  direction.  Had  this  scheme  been  successful,  it 
would  have  crushed  nearly  all  our  bankers  and  merchants,  and 
would  have  plunged  our  mercantile  and  monetary  interests  into 
such  chaos^and  ruin  that  years  must  have  elapsed  before  our  former 
prosperity  could  have  been  restored. 

The  private  life  of  Mr.  Sweeny  has  not  been  as  entirely  free 
from  blemish  as  some  of  his  more  discreet  friends  could  wish.  In 
early  life  he  was  a  "bunker"  round  an  engine  house,  like  his  dis- 
tinguished colleague  Tweed,  and  being  a  bachelor  he  was  not  as 
mindful  of  the  proprieties  of  life  as  might  be  reasonably  expected 
from  a  man  who  hoped  to  play  so  important  a  part  before  the  pub- 
lic. For  some  years  he  is  said  to  have  lived  with  a  female  on  terms 
of  intimacy  that  are  not  sanctioned  by  the  rules  of  the  church  nor 
the  usages  of  good  society.  A  child,  it  is  alleged,  was  one  of  the 
results  of  this  intimacy,  and  it  was  not  until  the  admirers  of  Mr. 
Sweeny,  and  the  hungry  Bohemians  of  the  press,  commenced  lo 
talk  about  Sweeny  in  connection  with  the  Presidency  of  the  United 
States  that  he  performed  the  tardy  act  of  justice  of  legalizing  the 
relations  existing  between  this  woman  and  himself,  and  of  removing 
in  some  measure  the  stam  of  bastardy  from  the  brow  of  their  child. 

In  addition  to  those  already  enumerated,  there  are  many  other 
men  whose  antecedents  will  not  bear  examination,  holding  high 
positions  under  the  City  Government.  Matthew  T.  Brennan,  the 
Sheriff,  kept  a  low  groggery  in  the  Sixth  Ward  in  his  less  prosper- 
ous days.  He  is  now  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Democracy  in  this 
City,  while  his  brother  Owen  is  a  prominent  Tammany  Republican, 
and  holds  a  couple  of  important  places  under  the  Hing;  and  another 
brother,  who  is  a  nondescript,  holds  a  position  in  the  Board  of 
Education.    But  it  is  not  sufficient  thatjjall  the  brothers  of  the 


41 


Brennan  family  should  live  off  the  Tax-payers.  They  provide  for 
all  their  relations  in  the  same  manner.  The  "  Mike  "  Moloney, 
described  elsewhere  as  a  clerk  in  the  Comptroller's  Office,  is  a 
nephew  to  Sheriff  Brennan,  as  is  also  William  J.  A.  McGrath, 
clerk  to  Judge  Dowling  at  the  Tombs  Police  Court.  The  earliest 
recollections  of  these  two  fashionable  young  gentlemen  carry  them 
back  to  the  misery  and  squalor  of  a  low  rum  shop  on  West 
Street,  where  they  were  mere  grubs  in  the  gutters  of  that  wretched 
neighborhood,  but  under  the  exhilarating  rays  reflected  from  their 
great  luminary  of  an  uncle,  they  have  developed  into  the  most 
brilliantly  tinted  Democratic  butterflies.  John  J.  Bradley,  City 
Chamberlain  and  brother-in-law  to  Peter  B.  Sweeny,  first  saw  the 
light  in  a  low  groggery  in  Keade  Street,  when  it  was  considered  one 
of  the  worst  streets  in  the  city.  During  his  early  manhood  he 
worked  as  a  hack-driver,  but  he  had  attained  to  the  dignity  of  a 
livery  stable-keeper  before  he  married  the  sister  of  Mr.  Sweeny,  and 
is  now  a  millionaire. 

Our  Aldermen,  Councilmen,  Coroners,  and  other  city  officials 
are,  as  a  rule,  selected  from  the  rum  sellers,  ticket  swindlers,  or 
other  notorious  classes  that  infest  the  city,  while  the  different 
Boards  of  Commissioners  under  the  City  Government  are  mainly 
composed  of  men  of  little  intelligence  and  of  doubtful  antecedents. 

And  now,  free  men  of  America,  how  long  will  these  men  be 
permitted  to  rule  the  great  city  of  New  York,  and  to  disgrace  the 
positions  which  they  have  wrested  from  the  people  by  the  grossest 
frauds  and  the  most  reckless  violence  ?  Wake  up  from  your  dream 
of  fancied  security.  Shake  off  the  fatal  spell  of  apathy  which  has 
lured  you  into  permitting  the  first  city  on  the  continent  to  become 
a  prey  to  an  organized  band  of  thieves.  Assert  again  the  prin- 
ciples that  your  fathers  sanctified  with  thei^  blood  :  declare  undy- 
ing hostility  to  usurpers  and  their  hireling  followers,  and  defend, 
with  your  lives,  if  need  be,  the  priceless  boon  for  which  the  found- 
ers of  the  government  periled  their  lives  and  fortunes. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  FIGURES. 

The  machinery  of  the  Finance  Department  of  the  City  and 
County  is  so  complex:  that  many  of  our  most  respectable  citizens 
are  utterly  ignorant  of  its  practical  working.    The  general  irnpres- 


42 


sion  seems  to  be  that  the  thirty  or  thirty-one  millions  raised  under 
the  general  Tax  Levy,  and  from  rents  of  markets,  docks,  &c.,  cover 
all  the  expenditures  of  the  City  and  County  Government.  This 
vast  sum,  however,  represents  only  about  one-third  of  the  amount 
that  annually  passes  through  the  hands  of  the  Comptroller,  the 
larger  amount  being  raised  by  issuing  bonds  for  every  conceivable 
object,  and  under  every  conceivable  title.  Thus  we  have  accumu- 
lated Debt  Bonds,  Assessment  Fund  Bonds,  Croton  Aqueduct 
Bonds,  Croton  Reservoir  Bonds,  Central  Park  Improvement  Fund 
Stock,  City  Improvement  Stock,  Street  Improvement  Bonds,  City 
Lunatic  Asylum  Stock,  Department  of  Parks  Improvement  Bonds, 
Fire  Department  Stock,  Fire  Telegraph  Stock,  Dock  Bonds,  New 
York  Bridge  Bonds,  Revenue  Bonds,  Tax  Relief  Bonds,  Riot 
Damages  Indemnity  Bonds,  Riot  Damage  Redemption  Bonds, 
Soldiers'  Bounty  Fund  Bonds,  Soldiers'  Substitute  Bounty  Re- 
demption Bonds,  New  Courthouse  Stock,  Repairs  to  County  offices 
and  Buildings  Stock,  &c,  &c,  &c.  Now  there  are  two  distinct 
bureaus — one  for  the  City  and  one  for  the  County — from  which 
bonds  and  stocks  are  issued,  and  in  which  claims  are  audited  and 
paid  ;  hence  it  follows  that  the  stocks  or  bonds  issued  from  one 
bureau  may  be  duplicated  in  the  other,  or  that  an  unlimited  amount 
can  be  issued  from  either  city  or  county  bureau  without  the  public 
having  any  means  of  knowing  how  much  has  been  raised,  or  what 
disposition  lias  been  made  of  it  when  raised. 

To  enable  the  Ring  to  carry  out  their  schemes  of  plunder  with 
greater  facility,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  last  winter  authoriz- 
ing the  conversion  of  city  into  county  securities,  and  vice  versa,  at 
the  pleasure  of  the  Comptroller,  and  also  authorizing  the  issue  of 
long  bonds  for  the  entire  debt  of  the  city  and  county,  thus  giving 
the  thieves  who  control  the  finances  of  the  city  the  power  to  rob 
the  public  with  impunity  so  long  as  they  can  retain  possession  of 
the  offices  they  now  hold.  In  each  bureau  there  are  two  separate  sets 
of  accounts — one  of  warrants  drawn  on  account  of  appropriations, 
and  one  <>t'  warrants  drawn  on  what  is  called  "  special  account." 
The  warrants  drawn  on  special  account  are  not  paid  out  of  any 
appropriation,  hut  out,  of  a  fund  raised  by  the  issue  of  stocks  and 
bonds.  Hence  it  happens,  that  there  arc  no  less  than  five  different 
titl.  s  under  which  the  subjoined  amounts,  paid  for  repairs  and  fur- 
niture in  county  offices  and  armories,  have  been  charged.  The 
titles  of  these  accounts  read  as  follows  :  "  Armories  and  Drill- 


43 


Rooms  ;''  u  County  Liabilities  "  Adjusted  Claims  "  County 
Contingencies  :"  and    Repairs  to  County  Offices  and  Buildings." 

Many  of  the  checks  enumerated  in  the  following  paees  were 
drawn  in  the  name  of  dummies,  Ingersoll  using  the  names  of  C.  D. 
Bollar  &  Co.,  J.  A.  Smith,  M.  W.  Davis,  and  A.  G.  Miller  :  and 
Garvey  using  the  names  of  R.  J.  Hennessy,  T.  C.  Cushman, 
and  Phillippo  Donnarumma.  These  men  have  been  paid  large 
sums  for  repairs  in  county  offices  and  armories,  and  for  furniture 
and  carpets  for  the  same  :  but  the  name  of  a  single  one  of  them 
does  not  appear  in  the  City  Directory :  nor  can  anyone  be  found  in 
the  several  lines  of  business,  in  which  they  are  said  to  be  engaged, 
who  has  ever  heard  of  them.  If  we  add  to  this  the  important  fact 
that  all  the  checks  drawn  in  their  favor  have  been  returned  from 
the  bank  bearing  the  indorsement  of  Ingersoll  or  Garvey.  the  con- 
clusion that  they  have  no  existence  is  inevitable  :  and  that  in  indors- 
ing their  names  on  the  checks,  and  in  signing  their  names  to  the 
vouchers.  Ingersoll  and  Garvey  have  simply  added  forgery  to  fraud. 

All  the  checks  that  are  drawn  in  the  name  of  George  S.  Miller 
are  handed  over  to  Ingersoll,  and  bear  his  indorsement  :  but  the 
amount  drawn  by  him  is  so  large  that  the  list  of  checks  is  given 
under  his  name.  It  must  be  understood,  however,  that  it  was 
Ingersoll  (as  the  agent  of  the  Ring)  who  received  the  entire  amount 
which  they  represent. 


Date.  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  Checks.  Aggregate  Am*t 

1869.  oil  each  Pate. 

Jan.  11th.  Andrew  J.  Garvey  #33,76.7  27 

"  George  S.  Miller.'   15.415  14 

"  Ingersoll  &  Co   38,906  71 

:-  Keyser  &Co.\   26.829  97 

 $119,919  09 


19th,  IngersolKv  Co    31.801  95 

"     George  S.  Miller   14.691  78 

Andrew  J.  Garvey   49.479  74 

"     Kevser  &  Co   4.435  29 


  100.408  76 

"    29th,  Keyser  &  Go   9.834  94 

Feb.  18th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   15.786  40 

Andrew  J.  Garvey   4I.S09  92 

  57.596  32 


44 


Date.  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  Checks.  Aggregate  Am  t 

1869.  on  each  Date. 

Feb.  27th.  Ingersoll  &  Co   55,791  56 

"     George  S.  Miller   27,937  51 

"     Keyser  &  Co   31,942  C7 

"       "     Keyser  &  Co   22,454  93 

 138,12b'  67 

A}>ril26th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   39,844  68 

"       "     Andrew  J.  Garvey   38,859  00 

"     Keyser  &  Co...."   14,328  58 

  93,032  26 

May  12th;  Ingersoll  &  Co   19,163  65 

"    21,969  13 

"     George  S.  Miiler   27,651  40 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   5,635  30 

  7,123  75 

"      Keyser  &  Co   19,987  64 

  101,530  87 

June  5th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   26,325  26 

<:f  "    38,907  43 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   36,762  00 

"     Keyser  &  Co   18,177  89 

"      "         "    39,986  80 

  146,182  93 

"       "         "    90,923  40 

  397,265  71 

June  7tb3  Ingersoll  &  Co  $22,496  33 

  38,907  43 

"  f*    93,467  75 

  129,469  48 

"       "     George  S.  .Miller   38.(57(5  50 

"    13,864  07 

"      Keyser  &  Co   25,010  02 

  $361,891  5S 

JirneSth,  fngersoll  &  Co   129,4(59  48 

U      «,  a    90,923  40 

  220,392  88 

June  10th,  A.  I.  Garvey   29,324  (55 

  30,383  50 

  59,708  15 


45 


Date.  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  (.'hecks.  Aggregate  Ami 

I860  on  eac^1  ^ate- 

June  15th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   72,605  97 

  30,000  00 

  102,605  97 

July  2d,     Ingersoll  &  Co   42,550  64 

"  '     "     George  S.  Miller   905  51 

«      "               <<    6,089  24 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   13,9S9  25 

"             «       *   691  12 

"      "             "    31,286  52 

"     Kevser  &  Co   6.516  26 

  102.02S  54 

July  16th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   94,038  13 

"  "     "     A.  J.  Garvey   26,890  35 

"       u     Kevser  &  Go   9.774  36 

  130.702  84 

July  28th,  George  S.  Miller   11,349  54 

"      "  "  .   10,647  56 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   4,780  02 

"       "  "     *   3,089  24 

"  "    41,752  94 

  31,275  70 

"     Keyser  &  Co   1,351  50 

"      "         '      "    1,689  60 

  105,936  10 

Aug.  4th,  Ingersoll  &  Co  $53,206  75 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   38,791  62 

"      "     Keyser  &  Co   23,840  91 

 —   3115,839  28 

Sept.  7th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   60,334  71 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   41,685  10 

-   32,695  63 

  29,792  55 

"      "     Keyser  &  Co   54,050  55 

  2,959  65 

  3,209^40 

 — —    224,727  59 

Sept.  8th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   42,901  47 

"     George  S.  Miller   48,833  23 

 -   91,734  70 


46 


Daie.  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  Checks.  Aggregate  Ain't 

1S69.  ou  each  Dare. 

Sept.  17th,  A.  J.  Gtaryej   7,991  60 

"     20th.  Ingei>«.)ll  &  Co   30,116  26 

  32,112  7S 

"     Geoisge  S.  Miller   14,130  36 

u     A.  J?  Garvey   15,S10  00 

"     Keyser  &  Co   22,531  1)4 

 114,701  34 

Sept.  27th,  A.  J.  Garvey  &  Co   41,741  70 

  18^099  30 

"       Ingersoll   30,000  00 

"    4S,654  52 

  43,654  52 

  18,823  14 

  200,973  IS 

Sept.2Sth,  IngerBoll  &  Co   48,798  63 

^     30th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   44,737  45 

Oct.  11th,  George  S.  Mille   49,763  80 

il     Keyser  &  Co   14,070  68 

"      "     A.  J.  Garvey   39,706  16 

"   153,855  50 

  257.396  14 

Oct.  22d,  Ingersoll  &:Co   63,201  16 

"    23d,  "    27,154  55 

u    28th,  «    28.032  11 

A.  A.  Garvejj   33.704  4L 

"     Keyser  &  Oo   21,690  85 

  83.427  37 

Oct.  30th,  Keys,-]-  &  Qc   $15,697  38 

Nov.  6th,  Ingersoll  &  C  136,422  10 

ki     Keyser  &  Co   19.815  26 

 56,337  36 

"    16th,  Ingersoll  &  9   32,185  20 

"    17th,         M    32,617  13 

"     "    A.  ii  Qarvey  £  U   30,386  08 

  63,003  21 

u    19th.  [ngersoll  &  C<   10,494  61 

Keyser  ids  Co   37.324  44 

  47,819  05 


<;    22,1,  •    51,461  75 


47 

Date,  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  Checks  Aggregate  Am't 

1869.  ou  each  date. 

Nov.  24th,  Ingersoil  &  Co   32,826  81 

"    26th,  A.  J.  Garvey  &  Co   50,624  45 

Dec.  3d,     Ingersoil  &  Co   32,6S2  38 


Ci  (i 

cc  cc 


George  S.  Miller   23,03S  74 


A.  J. -Garvey-  ______  167,355  24 

  223,076  36 

9th,  A.  J.  Garvey   46,500  84 

10th,  Ingersoil  &  Co   54,243  57 

"     Keyser  &  Co   34,588  51 


17th,  A.  J.  Garvey   42,630  24 

  16,609  22 


88,832  08 


59,239  46 


cc  cc 


20th,  Ingersoil  &  Co   34,785  03 

  18,222  47 

  137,108  58 

  190,116  08 

22d,  Keyser  &  Co   11,893  63 

28th,  A.  J.  Garvey   33,283  00 

"     Keyser  &  Co   19,802  33 


29th,  George  S.  Miller   27,885  04 

Keyser&Co  I...    26,360  65 


L7 

CC  CC 


53,085  33 


54,245  69 


cc 


31st,  A.  J.  Garvey   33,129  89 

  86,168  00 

   72,864  00 

"      "              "    69,242  00 

  30^975  00 


Jan.  10th,  A.  J.  Garvey. 

CC  CC  ki 


$9,493  54 

8,188 

20 

26,098 

30 

20,655 

72 

20,291 

44 

23,005 

83 

297,378  89 


$43,780  04 


63;952  99 


48 

Date.  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  Checks. 

1870. 

Jan.  24th,  Geo.  S.  Miller   26.952  99 

"     Ingersoll  &  Co   33,538  36 

"    28th,  Geo.  S.Miller   25,366  49 

"      "      Keyser  &  Co   18.569  00 

Feb.  7th,  Ingersoll  &  Co  

"    16th,  "   

"     23d,  "   .,; 

"    26tl,          «    26,981  90 

  33,037  15 

March  7th,  Keyser  &  Co  

"  12th,  A.J.  Garvey   39,835  00 

"     "      Ingersoll  &  Co   58,937  60 

"     "      Geo.  S.  Miller   38,084  28 

"     "      Keyser  &  Co   27,742  45 

"    21st,  Geo.  S.  Miller   20,255  00 

"      "     Keyser  &  Co   30,315  67 

"    28th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   49,742  45 

«     "      A.  J.  Garvey   19,343  82 

"    31st,  Geo.  S.  Miller   45,266  04 

"     "      Ingersoll  &  Co   38,S18  84 

"     "     Keyser  &  Co   35,959  87 

April    2d,  A.  J.  Garvey   $33,250  00 

«       "         «    35,490  30 

"    8th,  Geo.  S.  Miller   18,955  69 

«     «           "    22,494  74 

«     "           "    21,418  99 

"      "     A.  J.  Garvey   24,578  86 

  24,391  05 

«     "             "    29,655  39 

«             ti    25,931  88 

«      "             M    28,264  86 

«      «             M    30,461  98 


Aggregate  Ain't 
on  each  date. 


60.491  35 


43,935  49 
11,186  92 
29,404  48 
5L813  77 


60,019  05 
38,265  55 


164,599  33 
50,570  67 
69,086  27 


120,044  75 


868,740  30 


226,153  44 


49 


Date.  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  Chucks.  Aggregate  Am't 

1S70.  011  eacl1  date. 

April  9th,  A.  J.  Garvey   39,436  12 

"  16th,  "    30,975  00 

"     "     KeyBer  &  Co   J  2,395  80 

"      "     Ingersoll  &  Co   28,608  68 

"     "     Geo.  S.  Miller   8,147  88 

"     "  "    25,948  38 

"      "      Ingersoll  &  Co   22,612  10 

  128,687  84 

May    6th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   64,954  87 

  34,082  25 

<•     A.  J.  Garvey   4b*,02o  67 

"     Keyser  &  Co   32,596  08 


177,658^87 


«       "     Ingersoll  &  Co   39,260  17 


  35,H4  08 

"       "  "    36,083  80 

"     Geo.  S.  Miller   42,128  47 

  152,586  52 

"     13th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   89,379  00 

"     Geo.  S.  Miller   38,902  22 

  128,281  22 

May  14th,  A.  J.  Garvey  §45.355  92 

<;    44,255  85 

"     Keyser  &  Co   27,837  38 

  8117,499  15 

"     21st,  Ingersoll  &  Co   70,117  59 

  64,984  82 

"       "  «    39,950  18 

  39,614  59 

  34,515  73 

Geo.  S.  Miller   34,990  66 

A.J.  Garvey   44,094  91 

  44,281  16 

  45,444  46 

  417,994  10 

"      23d,  Keyser  &  Co   31,067  79 

  28,093  70 

"       "  "    16,924  62 


4 


76,086  11 


50  . 

Date.  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  Checks.  Ajj^rejrate  Am  t 

IS  /0.  on  each  date. 

May  27rh.  Ingersoll  &  Co   125,830  56 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   40,870  4:3 

 166,701  01 

"  28th,  "   43,390  81 

«       "     Ingersoll  &  Co   40,314  09 

  39,S44  19 

  73,602  46 

"     Geo.  S.  Miller.   39,'361  21 

 236,512  7G 

"     30rh,  Ingersoll  &  Co   6S/21S  82 

"  '  A.J.  Garvey   40,89.3  34 

  109,114  16 

June    3d,  Ingersoll  &  Co  $.34,030  26 

"    Geo.  S.  Miller   37,326  02 

"    Ingersoll  &  Co   63,17:3  51 

"    A.  J.  Garvey   42,942  16 

"        "  "    41,399  63 


¥       "  "    €1,180  43 

"    Keyser  &  Co   19.870  14 

 $299,924  15 

6th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   42,291  4:3 

"        "  "    44,259  23 

"        «  "    36,9S7  2:3 

"    Geo.  S.  Miller   32,3Sl  73 

  35,663  82 

u        "    A.  J.  Garvey   41,563  42 

  40,971  15 

«        M  "    40.652  43 

  43,774  26 

"    Keyser  &  Co   11,300  31 

w        "  "    1  1.794  16 

  13.326  21 

"        "  «    72S  S3 

  395,694  27 

"      10th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   69,719  10 

"       "  "    67,487  2L 

"     Geo.  S.  Miller   44,474  30 

m    A.J.  Garvey   41,309  50 

"    25,609  30 

"       "  "    41,160  35 

"       «     Keyser  &  Co..  _   36,830  80 

  326,590  56 


51 


Date.  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  Checks.  Aggregate  Ain't 

1S70.  on  each  Date. 

June  13th,  Ingersoll  &  Co.  _._  $93,259  07 

"     A.  J.  Garvey  &  Co.-   47,724  61 

  45,102  77 

  $191,OS6  45 

"    17th,  George  S.  Miller    43,76S  21 

«     A.  J.  Garvey   43,026  04 

"     45,097  67 

 136,S91  02 

"    20th,  Ingersoll  &  Co.   66,292  33 

"     George  S.  Miller   40,965  41 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   43,900  53 

"  "    44,001  03 

"     Keyser&Co.  —   50,953  85 

.   246,113  20 

"    24th,  Ingersoll  &  Co...   36,441  42 

"     49,082  30 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   43,383  76 

"  "     45,756  37 

 174,663  85 

"    26th,  Ingersoll  &  Co.   72,819  SI 

"    27th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   58,330  93 

"     George  S.  Miller  _.   44,874  59 

"      "     Ingersoll  &  Co   85,163  22 

"     Keyser&Co.   44,3SS  67 

 1  ■    232,757  41 

"    30th,  Ingersoll  &  Co.   54,053  33 

"      "  "    29,129  99 

 _   37,426  87 

 ...   49,208  14 

  37,072  16 

"      "     George  S.  Miller....   40,549  24 

ic        k  a 


ci        a  cc 


...   35,748  29 

"     Ingersoll  &  Co.   59,932  01 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   44,995  99 

"    44,002  38 

  432,118  40 

July  Sth,    Georgo  S.  2M511cr  §29,317  59 

"  "    46,947  32 

"     Keyser  &  Co.   69,231  59 

  $145,496  50 


52 


Date.  To  Whom  Paid.  Separate  Checks.  Aggregate  Am't 

1870.  on  each  Date. 

July  26th,  George  S.  Miller.. _   49,251  31 

<•     A.  J.  Garvey   48,869  53 

._   49,491  75 

  147,612  59 

Aug.  1st,   IngersoD  &  Co..__  _   91,325  50 

  60,503  43 

   69,537  68 

"     Keyser  &  Co  .   42,224  93 

  263,591  54 

"    5th,    A.  J.  Garvey     72,075  08 

x    9th;    George  S.  Miller   40,607  49 

*      "     Ingersoll  &  Co..  _.   77,949  58 

"     A.  J.  Garvey   66,118  31 

  184,675  38 

"    12th,  George  S.  Miller  ...48,639  49 

 46,343  45 

"     A.  J.  Garvey.    67,068  89 

"     Keyser  &  Co.    53,620  46 

  215,672  29 

"    30th,  Ingersoll  &  Co   40,000  00 

"  "     10,000  00 

  50,000  00 

«    31st,  "     30,000  00 

Oct.  26th,  "     12,000  00 

Total  $11,237,773  10 


Recapitulation. 


Ingersoll,  Furniture  and  Carpets   $4,829,424  26 

Garvey,  Plastering   3,495,629  96 

Keyser,  Plumbing....      1,508,410  S9 

Miller,  Carpenter- work   1,404,307  99 


Total  $1  1,237,773  IO 


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